Much has changed since the Health and Safety at Work Act was launched in 1974 and along with it the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Back then, the issues seen as endangering the safety of the workforce were largely considered to be workplace accidents – and there were many. This was long before employee wellbeing and awareness of the importance of mental health entered the workplace health conversation.
The fact is, health and safety can go under the radar – until something goes wrong. And that’s why your health and safety strategy deserves your attention.
In this article we’ve focused on some of the current issues organisations need to consider as they shape an effective health and safety strategy to meet the needs and values held by today’s workforce. But first, let’s share some numbers that set the scene in the UK.
How safe are our workplaces today?
- The number of fatal injuries at work has fallen by over 80 per cent, from 651 deaths in 1974 to 138 in 2024. That’s good news, but it’s still 138 too many.
- Being struck by a moving vehicle and being struck by a moving object accounted for over one-third of all fatal workplace accidents.
- An estimated 604,000 workers experienced a non-fatal injury at work, up nearly 8% from 561,000 in 2022/23.
- While fewer workers now die from injuries on the job, many suffer the effects of occupational cancers or work-related stress. According to the TUC, an estimated 50,000 people in Britain lose their life to work causes every year.
- According to HSE data, 7.8 million workdays were lost due to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (a near 10% increase from 2022/23, when this number was 6.6 m).
- In 2024, an estimated 18 million working days were lost due to mental health conditions like stress, depression, and anxiety in the UK. This is estimated to cost £1,652 per employee per year.
From these findings, it could be argued that we still have some way to go towards creating healthier and safer workplaces. All of which suggests that employers have an ever more important role to play in creating workplaces that are less harmful to their employees.
So, what issues might be influencing and affecting your organisation’s approach to health and safety today?
Greater awareness of mental health /psychological safety
While changing leadership styles and more employee-friendly work practices have been evolving in recent years, the pandemic finally made organisations and their employees realise that mental health should to be a part of the conversation. A fit and healthy workforce needs good mental health, supported by organisations and leaders who can normalise what can still be a stigma. What’s more, people need to feel they can speak up without criticism in a culture of psychological safety.
We’ve covered workplace mental health extensively in the Cordell Health blog series and it’s no surprise that we think it needs to be at the forefront of any health and safety strategy. Here are three blogs that will help with this:
5 ways to help your people improve their mental wellbeing
Mental health in the workplace – how to get the conversation started
Do your people really have the freedom to speak up (covering psychological safety)
The challenges and perceptions of Gen Z
According to HSE data, nearly three in five (59%) of Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2006) say that they are currently experiencing anxiety or depression as a result of cost of living pressures and financial difficulties. It is likely that some of this may impact workplace performance and team morale. Of course Gen Z aren’t the only age group experiencing anxiety as a result of cost of living challenges, and those organisations that focus on financial wellbeing will be going some way to helping. What’s more, employees also expect this support from their employer. This is a helpful guide from the CIPD.
Gen Z also have a growing expectation that their employers will prioritise their health and safety, including mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. Increasingly the organisations that don’t deliver an emotionally safe workplace will lose the talent they need. That’s why being seen to understand and meet the needs of Gen Z is an important consideration in how you shape and deliver on health and safety.
An ageing workforce / musculoskeletal disorders
A third of all workers are now over 50. In the last 20 years, the number of workers over 50 has increased by nearly two-thirds – from 6.6 million to 10.6 million. What’s more, the number of workers over 65 has almost tripled, with nearly 900,000 more people over 65 in work. Clearly, any effective health and safety strategy has to meet the needs of this growing group. And, as the HSE reminds us, employers have the same responsibilities for the health and safety of older workers as they have for all workers.
The HSE has produced guidance on what employers need to consider when it comes to the health and safety of older employees. This is not only a legal requirement, organisations that fail to adapt to meet the needs of their older workers will lose the valuable talent and experience they bring. Read: The HSE: Older workers health and safety .
Musculoskeletal disorders are most prevalent in people aged 50 to 64. With days lost to musculoskeletal disorders on the increase, organisations are advised to prioritise protecting musculoskeletal health in the workplace as part of their health and safety strategy. We’ve written an article to help with this covering why this matters and how to achieve it. Read: Protecting musculoskeletal health in the workplace
Automation and communication
We live in an age of increasing automation, led by AI. This offers opportunities and dangers. While developments in the use of wireless connectivity and remote monitoring of employees bring efficiencies and the potential to detect risks earlier, this also puts some of the emphasis on the employee to be able to use the technology and for the health and safety or occupational health professional to communicate the importance and value.
As organisations work to bring health and safety to the forefront of the minds of workers, automation runs the risk of it slipping from visibility. The challenge for organisations is to use new technology in a way that it gets buy-in, is used properly and with confidence while keeping a ‘human’ element to the process.
Does your culture deliver on health and safety?
Our final point underpins everything in this article. There is little value in investing in health and safety and employee wellbeing if your culture doesn’t reflect this. Talking about the need for mental health support while failing to manage the causes of stress, not checking in on hybrid workers who may be experiencing unseen anxiety and burnout, failing to invest in safe plant and machinery – all of this will undermine your employees belief that you are serious about their health, safety or wellbeing. Culture is influenced by the actions of leadership and their behaviours so, if you want a fit and healthy workplace, your leaders have a powerful opportunity to set a positive tone.
In conclusion
An effective health and safety strategy is based on meeting the needs of our changing, ageing and more remote workforce. While there is still work to be done in minimising workplace accidents, organisations have an opportunity to win the loyalty of Gen Z by being seen to understand their concerns about the aspects that impact on mental health and delivering on them – and the ageing workforce has health and safety needs of their own. And all of this depends on a culture that doesn’t just talk about health and safety – but delivers too.
Get our guide
We have produced a new Cordell Health UK Workplace Health and Safety guide. This is available to subscribers to our wellbeing service. If you are not signed up to this service and would like to find out more, please contact us on wellbeing@cordellhealth.co.uk
Picture from Unsplash.
