This guidance sets out an agenda for the effective leadership of health and safety.
It is designed for use by all directors, governors, trustees, officers and their equivalents in the private, public and third sectors. It applies to organisations of all sizes.Protecting the health and safety of employees or members of the public who may be affected by your activities is an essential part of risk management and must be led by the board.
Failure to include health and safety as a key business risk in board decisions can have catastrophic results. Many high-profile safety cases over the years have been rooted in failures of leadership.
HSE statistics reveal the human and financial cost of failing to address health and safety.
More than 200 people are killed at work in the United Kingdom each year. This does not include work-related road deaths. In 2006, 30 million working days were lost in the UK to occupational ill health and injury, imposing an annual cost to society of £30 billion (more than 3% of GDP).
Surveys show that about two million people suffer from an illness that they believe to be caused or made worse by work. Many thousands of deaths each year can be attributed to occupational illnesses, including some cancers and respiratory diseases. Organisations can incur further costs – such as uninsured losses and loss of reputation. View Guidance
