Heat is on for senseless businesses says minister
Heat is on for senseless businesses says minister
Keywords: Environmental health and safety
“Sensible health and safety is not only fit for business, it helps to keep business fit,” Lord Hunt, the minister for health and safety, has told the UK's health and safety professionals, while warning businesses that fail to comply with the law “will feel the heat.”
Speaking at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health's 2006 Conference, Lord Hunt said: “Britain has one of the best occupational health and safety records in the world. Since, the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act in 1974, the rate of workplace fatalities has fallen by over two thirds.”
“Safeguarding the welfare of workers is not just morally right. Many of our more progressive organisations have long recognised the wider benefits of good health and safety management. Managing health and safety risks looks after the bottom line,” he added.
And Lord Hunt had a warning for organisations: “The Health and Safety Executive's strong messages about risks are backed up by equally robust enforcement when those risks are wilfully ignored – those who don't see the light will feel the heat.”
Conservative shadow minister for health and safety, Tim Boswell MP, added:“I don't know many companies who like it when a member of their workforce is killed, but there has to be a regulator who deals with those who don't even try.”
“If you go around killing your workforce and having a high level of accidents you are damaging your productivity and your reputation. It's a very bad business for business, and not good for the people involved either.”
About 35 million working days are lost each year due to health and safety failures, costing UK companies £9 billion, but these costs are only a fraction compared to the misery and suffering endured by families and individuals affected by workplace injury and ill health.
The IOSH Conference and Exhibition is the largest of its kind to take place in the UK each year. IOSH 06 saw over 50 top-level speakers, with topics ranging from workplace stress to the dangers of over-regulation. The conference was accompanied by an exhibition, two spotlight theatres and health and safety training for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Next year's conference will be held in Telford, and will focus on the challenges facing health and safety in a changing world.
