COVID-19 has undoubtedly changed the environmental, health & Safety (EHS) landscape. EHS priorities will become key areas of strategic focus for senior leadership, as EHS leaders juggle a broad range of high priority goals and evolving strategies.
In December, HSE published statistics that cover work-related ill health, non-fatal workplace injuries and enforcement action taken by HSE, in the 2020/21 period:
The pandemic has affected certain data collection and impacted on assessment of trends, therefore there is no new data on working days lost and the associated economic cost for 2021.
As seen with COVID-19, risk can come from anywhere, so employers must remain vigilant, regularly monitoring and assessing their processes and procedures to make sure they meet the required standards.
Examining the trend over the last five years, on average there have been almost 150 fatalities per year. Every life is precious and every one of these people leave behind bereaved family, friends and colleagues. It is important businesses are conscious of the dangers that exist around their operation.
Helen Jones, Chief Operating Officer – Enterprise at Alcumus, commented: “It is sobering to see such a high number of ill health incidents occurring in UK workplaces and highlights the impact COVID-19 has on people’s health and mental wellbeing.
“Businesses, large and small, have a fundamental duty of care to protect its employees. The long-term impact of serious ill-health conditions can be grave, and if you do not have a health and safety expert within your organisation, it can be hard to know if you’re doing enough to protect your employees. It is very easy to miss the mark, so it is helpful to turn to professional expertise where needed and put robust risk management and software solutions in place to assess and act, in the best interest of your people, which are the most important asset in any organisation.”
In this webinar the panel will reflect on the latest HSE statistics to understand why fatalities have increased 28% Y-o-Y, where are the accidents happening, what this means for your business, and how you can get ahead of this by creating a winning health and safety culture.
