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Will the recovery lead to more workplace accidents?

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If you cast your mind back to the onset of the most recent recession, many health and safety professionals were warning that workplace accident, injuries and fatality rates would increase.

This prediction was borne out of fear that companies would begin cutting corners to save money. In the end those concerns did not materialise and workplace accident, injury and fatality rates have actually continued to improve in spite of the recession.

Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show the same thing has happened in previous economic recessions. But those same statistics also come with a warning which businesses need to heed as the economic recovery gathers pace and employment rises.

Previous recoveries following a downturn have seen an increase in injury and fatality rates and this is often down to the fact that there is a greater number of inexperienced staff on the shop floor.

Young and inexperienced recruits who are new to a workplace are three times more likely to be killed or injured than their experienced workmates who have been there for a year or more.

If businesses are aware of this pattern, they can take steps to prevent it happening again by ensuring new recruits are properly trained and aware of all health and safety risks for their job role, and that sufficient risk assessments have been carried out to identify and mitigate these risks.

This is, of course, a fundamental aspect of health and safety law, but there are other steps that can be taken that will demonstrate your business takes its health and safety obligations seriously. For example, the HSE has some top tips for reducing the risk of injury and fatality to new recruits.

These include asking more experienced people to look out for newer members of the workforce and encouraging new recruits to wear a different colour safety helmet or overall for the first few weeks so their work colleagues know they may need extra help to stay safe. Many companies use this simple system, which is easy to implement.

For more information on this matter, or any other health and safety legal matter, please contact David Edwards on 01772 258321 or David.Edwards@harrison-drury.com


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