You would be forgiven in this Covid-19 dominated year if you were prioritising your businesses decisions towards simply balancing revenues and costs whilst focusing on creating and maintaining a COVID-secure workplace. Many have accepted that investment towards Covid secure workplaces and adjusted work practices are indeed the most important areas of health & safety compliance in 2020.
Whilst this is necessary in terms of responding to the coronavirus crisis and the myriad of Government guidance that is issued daily, we all also need to remember our statutory duties as employers. Under Health and Safety legislation, the need for compliance has not gone away or in anyway seen as a lesser priority by the HSE and EHO’s.
At this challenging time, the last cost a business needs to incur is either the unplanned financial burden of a fine or the disruption and management time resulting should a business receive an improvement notice or prohibition notice. Keep your Health and Safety Policy, Management, Control, Reporting and Training up to date.
The latest updated HSE workplace statistics serve as a sober reminder of the need to continue to prioritise Health and Safety management, monitoring and control at this time.
Here are the highlights; latest data 2018/19
Overview
- 1.4 Million work related ill health cases.
- 600,000.00 work related stress, depression, or anxiety cases
- £9.8 Billion annual costs of new cases if work related ill health (2017/18)
- 600,000.00 workers sustaining non fatal injury, self reported by employees
- £5.2 Billion Annual costs of workplace injury (2017/18)
- £28.2 Million days lost to workplace ill health
- £15 Billion Annual costs of work related injury and NEW CASES (2017/18)
- 147 fatalities to workers (2017/18)
Enforcement
- 364 cases Prosecuted
- Over 11000 notices issued
- £54.5 Million in fines resulting from the prosecutions
The number of cases prosecuted and the number of notices reduced from the levels of fines reduced but the average fine issues is the same as the previous year.
Industry highlights
Ill Health Rate: Industries with ill health rates statistically significantly higher than the rate for all industries were Public administration and defence, Human health and social work and Education.
Injury Rates: Agriculture, forestry and fishing, Construction, Accommodation and food service activities, Wholesale and retail trade (including motor vehicle repair), Public administration and defence and Manufacturing had statistically significantly higher injury rates than for all industries.
All other sectors were not significantly different statistically compared to the last report.
Please read the full reports following this link.
Our H&S team is available to support all your immediate and continued needs, at this time we are assisting many in their COVID-19 secure workplace arrangements , particularly as a result of the HSE spot checks. In addition our teams continue to make visits to conduct Audits and Fire Risk Assessments, as part of our commitment to ensure essential statutory duties are satisfied.
Call us for assistance, you’re never alone with Park City as your business partner, stronger together. Park City develops happy, healthy workplaces for owners, managers and staff to be happy and proud of.
Be safe
