Worker report health and safety “is not a number one concern for employers”
Workers have reported health and safety issues are less of a concern to their UK employers as a result of the recession, according to a new survey by National Accident Helpline.
It found that 62%of employees believed that their employer was placing less emphasis on health and safety.
Just over a third (38%) believed that their employer remained as committed to workplace safety as ever.
The figures come just days after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that 34 million work days – one and a half days for every British worker – are lost annually as a result of work-related illness or injury.
John Campbell, legal director of National Accident Helpline, explained: “Investing time and money to make your workplace as safe as possible may seem less important during a recession, but these figures show that there is a financial incentive to do so.
“Employees who have accidents because of poor workplace safety have every right to claim for compensation.”
However, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) itself is also under fire for failing to follow up reports of injury in the workplace.
Research by the Centre for Corporate Accountability found the number of HSE investigation following a report of a major injury in construction are falling, with just 14.1 percent of such cases formally investigated.