Addressing safety and health issues in the workplace can save you money and add value to your business. Recent estimates from the HSE place the business costs associated with occupational injuries and work-related ill health at close to £3 billion annually.
It is important to know how these numbers affect your business. Those expenses for on-the-job injuries and illnesses come straight out of your company’s profits and affect your bottom line.
You need to emphasise the importance of health and safety programmes in your workplace and educate employees on how occupational injuries directly affect them.
Employer Benefits
When workers stay healthy, the direct cost savings to your business include:
- Fewer employees taking illness absences
- Smaller expenditures for return-to-work programmes, including job accommodations for injured workers
- Fewer faulty products
- Less money spent on replacement workers
Safety and health programmes also lead to reductions in indirect costs because of:
- Increased productivity
- Higher-quality products
- Increased morale
- Better relations between management and employees
- Reduced turnover
- Better use of resources
Employees and their families benefit from health and safety programmes because:
- Lack of injury helps employees maintain a steady income
- Injuries do not hinder family life
- Good health leads to less stress
Simply put, protecting employees properly is crucial to the economy, our communities, fellow workers and families. Health and safety programmes allow your employees to prosper and your business to thrive.
Your employees are an investment, and as with any investment, it is in your best interest to protect them. Focusing on health and safety will benefit your business in the short term and help you avoid future losses.
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