A new report by the British Safety Council highlights the benefits to business of investing in health and safety.
The business benefits of health and safety: a literature review shows how much money can be saved by avoiding damage caused by health and safety failures.
The BSC report shows the true cost of accidents, injuries and ill health to the UK economy to be £13.8bn in 2011/2012.
As the economy recovers, the BSC argues there is a danger that new, inexperienced workers will add millions more to that figure.
BSC chief executive Alex Botha said, "At a time when the latest GDP figures show the country slowly returning to economic health, we know that making workers ill and injured hurts all of us. What this literature review tells us is that getting health and safety right makes good business sense and can save organisations money."
The literature review examined research conducted over the last 20 years, mostly from the UK but also from Europe.
In total, over 50 pieces of evidence were assessed and grouped into costs, benefits and return on investment in occupational safety and health. The main findings are:
Costs of failure
Evidence from the HSE shows that occupational safety and health failure cost £13.8bn in 2011/12, with work-related ill health costing £8.4bn. The majority of this burden is picked up by individuals through loss of income ad rehabilitation costs. Taxpayers also significantly contribute to this bill through increased health and social care costs.
The benefits of well-managed health and safety
Studies from GB and the EU show that investing in OSH can reduce sickness absence, reduce injury rates, increase productivity and enhance an organisation's reputation.
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