At EDP, we often make the claim that good health and safety is also good for your business in a variety of ways. This has been based on our experience of having worked with hundreds of clients throughout the UK.
Our observations have now been reinforced by a survey that is a combined effort by the 'Institute for Employment Studies' and 'The Work Foundation' on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The survey covered 3,000 UK businesses, spanning a broad range of size and business sectors, to assess their attitudes and intentions in regard to health and safety, along with measures of their business performance. It would seem that our claims, based on empirical evidence, are in full agreement with the findings of this formally conducted survey.
Findings of the Survey
So what, you might ask, is the significance of such surveys? We believe they are extremely important and valuable influencers.
As health and safety professionals, we tend to encounter resistance at two broad levels:
- First of all, there are some business owners who cling to the attitude that health and safety is largely a matter of bureaucracy. There are even some who believe it actively works against efficiency and profitability.
- The other source of resistance that often needs to be overcome is from the "shop floor". There are various cultural beliefs and attitudes that can act as barriers to the practical implementation of health and safety measures.
In some cases these negative attitudes are simply historical and have never been challenged. Another factor is the way in which health and safety is often portrayed in the media. For example, "office decorations are not allowed at Christmas", "children are not allowed to play conkers or to go on school field trips", "window cleaners are banned from using ladders".
In practice, many of the media scare stories are myths, but their effect is so damaging that the HSE finds it necessary to devote a section of their website to debunking them. You can read a range of them at http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/. They highlight the myths and explain the reality behind each one.
It is welcome and refreshing, therefore, to read some serious research that spells out the positive benefits of adopting a serious attitude to health and safety in the workplace.
So what business benefits does the report highlight?
- For a start, they didn't find any cases where spending more on health and safety was associated with a negative impact on business performance. The opposite appears to be true, that businesses which spend more tend to have superior workforces - presumably because they are seen to invest in their workers' welfare.
- There is a clear correlation between the quality of potential employees attracted to a business and the amount spent on health and safety. In general, higher health and safety spending was associated with a more highly skilled workforce than the average for each of the industries in the survey. The suggestion is that increased emphasis on health and safety sends out positive signals to potential employees.
- This impact is not only apparent at the point of recruitment. Existing workers tend to be more committed to the business and what it is trying to achieve.
- Taking account of these observations, it is little surprise, therefore, that the survey also found those companies that have invested more in health and safety have also seen faster sales growth, measured over the previous 3 years. This is the goal of every business and is certainly born out in our own experience.
These benefits do not assume spending vast sums of money. In fact, as a rough indicator, the median amount spent by the businesses in the survey is just £200 per year for each full-time employee.
In terms of overall conclusions about attitudes toward health and safety, the survey found a mixture of good and not so good. To quote the report directly:
"Our initial finding was that health and safety as an issue generally ranks as important or very important for UK businesses. However, we also found that smaller businesses are less likely to have a positive attitude towards health and safety issues, or regard it as a key strategic area."
Again, this is in keeping with our own experience. Although we market services to large corporations and SMEs, we find that, in general, smaller organisations are more reluctant to invest in health and safety, although the potential payback is similar regardless of size.
Benefits of an Integrated Approach
Improvements in business performance are not automatic, however. The survey found that an integrated approach to health and safety yields better performance benefits than an ad-hoc approach.
This is where you can benefit from the professionalism and experience that EDP has built up over the past 15 years. We can examine your current situation, advise what you need to do to benefit your workforce and then recommend the most cost-effective measures for achieving your goals.
The full report is a substantial 70-page document but if you are interested in researching the findings in more detail, you can read it on the HSE website at
http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr589.pdf
Please take a little time out to think seriously and soberly about the findings of this report and then assess your health and safety budget and whether or not you are achieving maximum benefit.
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