Prevention: Accidents in the Workplace
Research outcomes from a YouGov survey1 conducted on behalf of Seton in 2014 show that a huge 68% of employees report that their working health and safety needs are not completely met by their current employer. Coupled with the finding that 14% of employers admit that there is nobody within their organisation trained in any type of workplace health and safety, it is perhaps not surprising that a high proportion of preventable accidents at work occurred last year2. Seton provide a range of health and safety solutions to help businesses increase productivity by reducing the incidence of accidents such as slips, trips and falls.
The survey revealed that 32% of employers were aware of accidents over the past 12 months that could have been avoided through the use of correct health and safety guidelines and procedures. The preventable accidents reported included unsafe actions resulting in slips, trips and falls (6%) and falls from a height (3%). The Health and Safety Executive reveal that 40%2 of all reported major injuries are caused by slips and trips, making this the most common cause of injury at work. According to their latest report3, 4.7 million days were lost in 2013 / 2014 due to workplace injury, and economic costs to Britain from workplace injury or illness totalled a staggering £14.2 billion.
In order to prevent accidents in the workplace and the associated costs, Seton offer a wide range of health and safety products such as anti-slip tapes, floor stands, cable protectors, and safety signs. In addition, Seton provide training solutions such as posters and DVDs to ensure that people within the organisation are aware of relevant health and safety guidelines and procedures. After all, prevention is better than cure when it comes to slips, trips and falls at work.
1YouGov Survey 2014. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. For the Consumer study the total sample size was 2413 adults of which 1376 were workers. Fieldwork was undertaken between 4th – 7th April 2014. For the Business study the total sample was 525 small and medium senior decision makers excluding sole traders. The surveys were carried out online. The Consumer figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+) and the Business figures have been weighted and are representative of company size (aged 18+).
2www.hse.gov.uk
3Health and Safety Statistics 2013 / 2014, Health and Safety Executive
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