Reputation and productivity drive safety

Research shows that it is staff productivity and corporate reputation that spur companies on to ensure safe workplaces, not the fear of legislation.

The Health & Safety Executive’s (HSE) fifth annual Health and Safety Offences and Penalties Report found that only 45 per cent of organisations would be more likely to act on the regulator’s advice because of its enforcement powers.

Instead, the findings showed that 90 per cent of the 1,700 respondents strongly agreed that health and safety was important for staff productivity and morale, and 82 per cent believed they ought to comply with health and safety regulations to protect their reputation.

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HSE director Timothy Walker said: “Until every employee in the UK works in a healthy and safe environment, there will be a continued need for the HSE to use fair, reasoned and sensible enforcement as a necessary and powerful tool for ensuring that employers comply with the law.

“The research shows that this is the approach employers expect from us,” he added.