Why managing health and safety makes sense

Other than avoiding legal sanctions, recent statistics show that:

• every working day, there are over 6,000 people injured at work
• every year 2.3 million people take time off because of work-related illness
• approximately 33 million work days are lost each year because work has made people ill
• almost 40% of over three-day injuries involve handling, lifting and carrying and nearly a quarter result from slipping and tripping.

Accidents and ill health can be very damaging to businesses because, in addition to personal injury claims and the direct costs covered, productivity is severely compromised. The less visible costs are many and varied including increased overtime working and temporary labour, stress and more staff absence, production delays, repairs to equipment, costs of management time, customer dissatisfaction and loss.

Additionally, individuals in management positions can be held personally liable for failures to control health and safety.

These are extremely compelling reasons why it makes sense to manage health and safety proactively.

Some of the most common types of work related injuries or illnesses include:

• muscular damage eg back or repetitive strain injuries
• the effect of breathing in or handling hazardous substances
• the effect of high noise levels
• the impact of vibration
• exposure to radiation which can include simply the effect of prolonged outdoor working in the sun.