Benefits of Good Health & Safety
Addressing health and safety should not be seen as a regulatory burden: it offers significant opportunities.
Benefits can include:- reduced costs;
- reduced risks;
- lower employee absence and turnover rates;
- fewer accidents;
- lessened threat of legal action;
- improved standing among suppliers and partners;
- better reputation for corporate responsibility among investors, customers and communities;
- increased productivity, because employees are healthier, happier and better motivated.
HSE statistics reveal the human and financial cost of failing to address health and safety:
- More than 200 people are killed at work in the United Kingdom each year. This does not include work-related road deaths.
- In 2006, 30 million working days were lost in the UK to occupational ill health and injury, imposing an annual cost to society of £30bn (more than 3% of GDP).
- Surveys show that about two million people suffer from an illness that they believe to be caused or made worse by work.
- Many thousands of deaths each year can be attributed to occupational illnesses, including some cancers and respiratory diseases.
Organisations can incur further costs – such as uninsured losses and loss of reputation.
Source: HSE Website 25 February 2008
