Introduction
While prioritising the health, safety and wellbeing of workers is a legal obligation for any organisation, it also makes good business sense, especially as the financial and indirect costs of getting it wrong continues to rise.
In order to comply with current health and safety legislation, businesses must make sure that they have effective health and safety management systems and processes in place which are proportionate to the size and the nature of business activity.
Nobody goes to work to get injured or become unwell. However, the reality in the statistics serves as an apt reminder that we need to do more to create safer workplaces and improve health and safety. In December 2022 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released its annual statistics on work-related health and safety in Great Britain. In 2021/2022 HSE figures show that 1.8 million people suffered from work-related ill health in the UK. The figures also reveal that:
workers sustained injuries and 142 were fatally injured.
million working days were lost to workplace ill health and injury.
There were 294 prosecutions for health and safety offences by HSE and by COPFS in Scotland in 2021/22, with a 96% conviction rate.
Five cases resulted in firms paying fines of more than £1 million each.
In this whitepaper we reflect on how you can get ahead by creating a winning health and safety culture. Never has it been more important to have clear considered risk assessments that are specific to your business and activities so that you and your people can work safely and to best manage and mitigate risk exposures.
At EcoOnline, we understand how important it is to make sure your employees are safe at work and that your business is compliant with health and safety at work regulations. We’ve been helping organisations of all sizes and in all sectors since 1979 – keeping people safe and reducing risks. Nobody goes to work to get injured. However, the latest HSE statistics show that more needs to be done to prevent workplace accidents.
"Businesses, large and small, have a fundamental duty of care to protect employees. If you do not have a health and safety expert within your organization, it can be hard to know if you’re doing enough. It is very easy to miss the mark, so it’s helpful to turn to professional expertise where needed and put robust risk management and software solutions in place to assess and act, in the best interest of your people, which are the most important asset in any organization."
Helen Jones, Chief Operating Officer, Enterprise at EcoOnline