“As a country we are getting better at ensuring safe and healthy workplaces
November 1st 2009

Every week somebody dies because of preventable safety failings in the workplace.

In fact, according to new figures we published at the end of October, nearly four people are fatally injured at work every week of the year.

And, in 2008/09, an estimated further 249,000 people suffered ill health caused by their work. In that year, just under 30,000 workers sustained major injuries like losing an arm or their sight.

And just over 100,000 more were injured badly enough to keep them off work for three or more days. Overall, firms in Britain lost 29.3 million working days from avoidable injury or ill health caused by work. On face value this is a pretty bleak picture of working life in Britain. But, actually, this country is now, arguably, the safest place to work in Europe - and getting safer because these figures, while too high, are part of an encouraging, long-term downward trend.

As a country we are getting better at ensuring safe and healthy workplaces.

There were 53 fewer deaths last year, 7000 fewer serious injuries and an estimated 50,000 fewer people with work-related ill health problems. Some five million fewer working days were lost to safety and health failings.

The exact cause of these reductions is hard to pinpoint. Clearly the recession will have had an effect, but it doesn't explain everything. Employers, workers, trades unions, trade associations and health and safety professionals have all played a part in this improvement.

We have shown that Great Britain can achieve a performance that compares favourably with other industrialised nations, despite entering the global recession. But history shows us that when we start moving back into economic growth the rate of work-related injuries and ill health is likely to increase. Our challenge now is to maintain that improvement as we move towards recovery and increased activity in some economic sectors. But we must all be part of the solution – regulators, employers, workers and health and safety professionals alike.

We are very clear that properly controlling health and safety risks does not mean aiming to eliminate all risk: risk is a part of all of our lives all of the time. We must concentrate on managing it, not try to eliminate it.

In those businesses and organisations where health and safety is regarded as a cost or a burden, performance and morale will suffer, and the bottom line will come under threat. Putting it bluntly, good health and safety is good business.

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