The True Cost of Improper Health and Safety

Last year in the UK, 148 people were killed at work. A further 78,000 work-related injuries were reported, and 1.1 million people were suffering from a work related illnesses. And all of this cost the taxpayers £13.8 billion! Whilst some injuries, and even deaths, are complete and unavoidable accidents, had the proper risk assessments and health and safety procedures been in place then the vast majority of incidents that resulted in injury could have been prevented. Yet many still see health and safety as a burden to business and routine.

The Human Cost

The cost of poor health and safety isn’t just the extensive financial element; the high human cost is the most concerning figure. Every year millions of working days are lost through work-related illness or injury, and thousands more lives are lost to occupational diseases, not including the direct fatalities as a result of an accident. And then there’re the members of the public, visitors and people just passing by who get injured or killed as a result of poor health and safety – in 2012/13, 113 members of the public were fatally injured in accidents connected to workplace safety. So it’s safe to say that thousands of people are affected every year by poor health and safety. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a crippling lifelong injury or a minor trip or fall, nearly all accidents could have been prevented if the employer had undertaken an adequate risk assessment and implemented precautions that could have reduced, if not eliminated, the risk. Even if this has been done, and in many cases it has and the employer is well aware of the risk, accidents can be the result of a failure to uphold effective health and safety by staff or management, either because they thought it was a waste of time or simply not that important.

The Cost to the Business

Small businesses, organisations, and even large companies often rely on word of mouth recommendations, and even if they don’t, the publicity surrounding a serious accident can have a detrimental effect on the amount of people willing to do business with you. Many businesses have had their reputation completely destroyed by becoming known for not protecting the health and safety of their staff and visitors. That’s not the only way it could affect your business. If your staff feel they are not properly cared for in their working environment, their productively will fall, lowering moral amongst your entire workforce.  This could be detrimental to the quality of the work produced, losing you future business, and could lead to staff resigning, leaving you to recruit and train new employees. There are also the additional costs of business insurance and uninsured losses, compensation for the injured and fines imposed for breaches of health and safety legislation – even if no accident occurred. In 2011, Marks and Spencer, and 3 of its contractors, were fined £1 million for health and safety failures that put lives at risk. During the trial the court heard how they didn’t allow workers sufficient time to remove asbestos-containing materials, and instead the workers were confined to working in enclosed areas to remove small sections of asbestos overnight, ready for the store to open the following day. They found that the workers, who had inadequately followed guidance on how to remove asbestos, failed to reduce to a minimum the spread of asbestos to the shop floor – creating a real risk to the health of the workers, store employees and shoppers.

The Benefits of Good Health and Safety

Implementing and upholding a good health and safety policy should not be seen as a burden; reducing the number of potential accidents offers a huge range of benefits to employers and business, including:

• Reduced cost and risk
• Lower employee absence
• Lower staff turnover
• Lessened threat of legal action
• Enhanced reputation with employees, investors, clients and suppliers

Not to mention the benefit of happy, healthy staff that are more productive and less likely to receive a life threatening injury. Health and Safety Training Ltd offer a range of training courses to ensure that your business is doing all it can to lower the cost of improper health and safety. The courses will provide your employees and managers with all the information they need to understand and uphold effective health and safety throughout your business.