Health and Safety Unaffected by Recession, Says CIOB
According to latest research from the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), 85% of high-ranking professionals in the construction sector do not consider that recession has adversely affected the level of health and safety standards in their organizations.
More than a thousand employees were interviewed during the research. Out of these, about 35% admitted that instead of curtailing expenditure on health and safety, their companies have started spending more on the same over the past one year. Expenditure on training employees on health and safety has also increased.
About 69% of the people interviewed believe that their companies have started taking health and safety seriously, but some respondents agreed that companies have failed to prioritize the issue despite having taken it seriously.
The people interviewed were also asked for suggestions regarding how health and safety could be improved in the workplace. Most of the respondents stressed on ongoing training and increased awareness as the essential requirements for ensuring healthy and safe work practices.
Over 40% of the people interviewed felt that health and safety in the corporate sector is not over-regulated. An interesting result of the survey was that many employees considered HSE to be lacking in the resources necessary to handle health and safety issues.
Most employees want HSE to take a more proactive stance and provide proper support and advice, besides paying surprise visits to sites more frequently. This should be done more for small to medium-sized companies.
Workplace Law Training & Consulting is equipped to provide professionally accredited training in key areas of workplace law and practice. Accredited by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health to deliver internationally recognised health and safety courses; right from fire risk assessments to improving upon awareness and attitude, and communication about safety to improve the health and safety culture within an organisation.
