Consequences Of Poor Health & Safety Procedures

Make health and safety a high priority in your business. A poor health and safety culture can be disastrous for your business, clients, and employees, so it’s important to invest time and money to get it right.

Increased Risk of Ill Health, Injury, and Death

Your failure to install adequate health and safety procedures can result in serious injuries or fatalities. A work-related illness or injury can not only put an employee out of work for a while and impact their quality of life; it may also damage your business’s productivity, finances, and reputation – all of which can be difficult to recover from.

Loss of Reputation

A good reputation is a crucial part of a business’s success. It can bring you a greater volume of investors and clients, an improved community opinion of your business, and a larger number of individuals who will be eager to join your team. However, a poor health and safety culture will cost your reputation.

In 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed eleven people and seriously injured several others. The explosion was found to be a result of vaguely established safety rules, with BP receiving heavy criticism for the accident. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board concluded there were: “Several inadequate or missing regulatory attributes”.

The disaster at Deepwater Horizon cost BP almost $40 billion, and their share prices plummeted.

Legal Repercussions

As an employer, it is your legal responsibility to make your workplace a safe environment for your employees. If you neglect your legal responsibility, you may face high legal costs, hefty fines, and the possibility of a jail sentence.

In July 2013, Crofty Point Metals Ltd in Swansea was the site of a deliberate arson attack which resulted in a fire and explosion. The owner was held responsible as security and safety measures were inadequate, despite knowing full well he needed to address them. He repeatedly ignored enforcement notices, both to the company and himself, that advised him to improve security to prevent unauthorised persons entering the site. Following their notices, HSE inspectors revisited the site in December 2016 and found open unmanned gates, loose gas cylinders scattered around, and inadequate safety standards.

The company pleaded guilty to violating Sections 2 (1) and 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974 and received hefty fines. The site owner was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to breaching Sections 2 (1), 3 (1) and 37 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974, and was banned from being a director or manager of any company for 7 years.

Decrease in Productivity, Increase in Turnover

If you fail to recognise the importance of health and safety, your business may face a decrease in productivity and an increase in staff turnover as morale falls. After all, why should staff be motivated to work hard if you don’t show that you value them enough to provide even the most basics of requirements? Everyone should feel safe when they go to work. If they don’t, chances are they’ll look elsewhere.

By respecting your health and safety responsibilities, you keep your staff motivated and retain good employees who can work productively and free of harm.