Importance of Workplace Safety

In this blog we will discuss the reasons why health and safety is important in the work place.

Hazards at work

At any stage of the work activity being done, there is always the potential of an accident or damage to someone’s health occurring. Employees are exposed to hazards, be they slips, trips, falls, fire, hazardous substances, loads which have to be manually handled, equipment use, electricity, working with display screen equipment, or even psychological hazards such as stress. The different hazards that workers are exposed to daily can lead to incidents at work. An overview of the national amount of such incidents is given in the latest annual statistics report for Great Britain.

2020/21 https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overall/hssh2021.pdf. The main statistics are as follows, and paint a grim picture of the outcome of incidents at work:

Key Facts

1.7 million Workers suffering from work-related ill health (new or long-standing) in 2020/21
0.8 million Workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or long-standing) in 2020/21
93000 Workers suffering from COVID-19 in 2020/21 which they believe may have been from exposure to coronavirus at work (new or long-standing)
142 Workers killed at work in 2020/21

Injuries

142 workers were killed at work, a rate of 0.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers.
51,211 reportable injuries (defined as over-7-day absence) occurred.
441,000 Workers sustaining a non-fatal injury.

Ill health

1.7 million people who worked during the last year were suffering from an illness (long-standing as well as new cases) they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work.
850,000 workers suffering from a new case of work-related ill health.
13000 death this year estimated to be linked to past exposure at work primarily to chemicals or dust.

Enforcement

185 cases were prosecuted by HSE in England and Wales.
£26.9 MILLION In fines resulting from prosecutions.
2929 enforcement notices were issued by HSE.

The financial cost of safety caused by failure at work actually happening in the workplace in Great Britain

The HSE Cost to Britain of workplace fatalities and self-reported injuries and ill health 2010/11 National Statistics http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/pdf/cost-to-britain.pdf gives an overview on the estimated actual costs to the employee, employer and Great Britain.
Updated estimates show the total cost associated with workplace injuries and ill health in Great Britain in 2010/11 to be £13.8 billion in 2011 prices.

Costs to employers

This section presents estimates of the costs to employers of workplace injury and work-related ill health in 2020/21. Costs to employers include:
⦁ Sick pay payments
⦁ Insurance premiums
⦁ Production disturbance costs
⦁ Administrative and legal costs
Net costs of sick pay and associated National Insurance are calculated as follows:
⦁ Payments to individuals: £1,077 million
⦁ Less Government reimbursements: (£10 million)
⦁ National insurance on sick pay: £138 million
⦁ Total net cost of sick pay: £1,205 million

Total costs to society

The overall estimated cost to society is:
⦁ Benefits, reduced tax/NI receipts 2,381 (£ millions)
⦁ Health and rehabilitation costs 615 (£ millions)
⦁ Administrative and legal costs 38 (£ millions)
Total costs 3,034 Estimated costs (£ millions)

Responsibility for Health and Safety

After reading these factual, reported statistics it is easy to see why the management and implementation of health and safety in the workplace is important to everyone and to society as a whole. Everyone has a responsibility for health and safety within the workplace.

Responsibility of the Employer

The employer should ensure that they provide a safe working environment as part of section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37
2 (1) General Duties of employers to their employees
‘It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.’

Responsibility of the Employee

The employee has general duties as part of section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37
7 (a) It shall be the duty of every employee while at work.