Better health and safety could mean bigger profits

The study commissioned by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) also showed that organisations which went beyond what was legally required in terms of health and safety had much lower accident rates.

Academics at Loughborough University found that firms adopting this kind of approach to health and safety management reported a 25% higher profit margin. They also reported 50% fewer accidents.

Professor Cheryl Haslam, who led the research, said: "These findings indicate that adopting a proactive approach to health and safety management really does pay. Companies that take a positive approach to health and safety, rather than merely complying with the law, are more likely to be profitable and safer.

"We also found that people working in more proactive organisations were more committed and satisfied with their job, which in turn was linked to better health and wellbeing."

Prof Haslam and her team looked at 31 organisations from a range of industry sectors as part of the study. They interviewed 78 senior managers or board members and surveyed 2,067 staff members.

She admitted that more research was needed to be able to say for certain that the findings reflected the broader picture in industry.

Better qualified

Interestingly, the team also discovered that sickness absence levels per employee were twice as high in large organisations than in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

At the same time, people working for large organisations reported half the work-related illness of those employed by SMEs.

The contradiction arose because many large firms provided wide-ranging sickness management policies, the researchers concluded. Smaller companies were less likely to have such policies, encouraging staff to come to work when they might otherwise stay at home.

The research follows another IOSH funded study published last November, which showed that businesses with managers who were more highly qualified in health and safety had much lower accident rates.

A team from Glasgow Caledonian University looked at data from contractors in the construction industry. They also found that firms which vetted their sub-contractors on health and safety had almost a 60% lower accident rate compared to those that failed to do so.

A full copy of the Loughborough University research is available from IOSH priced £35. A free summary report (pdf) can be found here.