Take the health and safety challenge

At the North West Expo last week, I tested businesses on ‘The State of the Nation’s Health and Safety’. Asking just eight questions with multiple choice answers, the results of my health and safety challenge are interesting. Correct answers are in bold below. Why not ask your colleagues, friends and partners to take the Health and Safety quiz? You can download it here before you see the answers: H&S Challenge We also made a short film at the Expo too.

1. Which kind of injuries happen most in the workplace?

Slips/trips Manual handling Contact with vehicles

2. For a SME employing up to 50, how much does the Health & Safety Executive say the real cost of managing health and safety cost is, per person, per year?

£2,225 £1550 £111

3. How much did accidents and ill-health cost the UK economy in one year to April 2014?

£14.3 billion £110 million £2.7 million

4. How many improvement notices were issued to North West employers in 2013-2014?

387 626 1,256

5. What percentage of people give the true reason for absence from work?

45% 10% 85%

6. How many fatalities happened in the workplace between 2014-2015?

142 347 567

7. True or false—only qualified electricians are allowed to change light bulbs in the workplace?

True False

8. Of the £14.3 billion cost to society what percentage is attributed to ill-health rather than injuries?

22% 65% 10%

It’s clear that people expect to be kept from harm and in safety when they are out of work, but have little expectations within work. Although, it seems that there are double standards when it comes to health and safety training for many businesses. And yet all places that we visit are places of work. Why should it matter if you work there or are just visiting.

The supermarket is a great example. When we go shopping, we don’t expect to slip on a grape or be hit by things falling off shelves. In reality that rarely happens because most supermarkets take care to ensure that their teams are aware of the potential dangers that could harm a customer. Whilst in the back of house, fire exits and means of escape may be blocked with stock and other obstacles, meaning that staff can’t get out should the worst happen as in the case of Poundstretcher.

When I posed the question to people that I met at the Expo “when was the last time that you had fire safety awareness training at work?” The answers were mostly can’t remember, or never to 1871. That might seem horrifying, but it is not at all unusual.