There was worrying news from the HSE (Health & Safety Executive) this week: workplace fatalities are becoming more common in the United Kingdom, with 2015/16 seeing a slight increase in deaths compared to 2014/15.
According to provisional figures, there have been 144 workplace fatalities in the UK over the past 12 months - that's 2 more than the 2014/15 total of 142 (source). Not a huge difference, you may think, but it's shocking to learn that the annual number of fatal accidents has gone up at all; with safety practices now better (and regulations stricter) than ever, we really ought to be seeing a sizeable decrease in workplace deaths from one year to the next.
Chris Green, a partner at a law firm based in Liverpool, responded to the HSE's latest figures with the following statement (originally published on www.liverpoolecho.co.uk):
"One death in the workplace is too many and employers must do more to ensure the safety of their staff when on the job. Initiatives such as visible boardroom involvement and leadership of safety culture programmes have been shown to reduce accidents at a time when the costs of not doing enough to ensure safety are higher than ever before."
It is somewhat depressing to have to revisit this lesson so soon after Health & Safety Week, but this news demonstrates that the theme for H&S Week 2016 - 'Inspiring excellence in health & safety' - is one that a lot of UK businesses could stand to think about. "Employers must do more", said Mr Green, and unless we as a country want to see that annual death toll continue to rise, we all need to ask ourselves if there's more we could be doing in our own offices, warehouses, and work sites. Have you identified all potential risks that your employees face? What are you doing to address those risks and prevent the worst from happening?
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