TUC urges tighter safety regimes

UK employers are paying out £368m a year in compensation for accidents in the workplace that could be easily avoided, according to a new report by the TUC.

Surveying 800 workplace safety representatives, TUCresearchers found that 9,000 people suffer serious injury at work each year due to trips and slips. Spilt substances and obstructions on the floor are the major causes.

The report also says that 30% of incidents affect the public, although in the leisure services sector the risk to the public is the same level as for employees.

The TUC argues that much of this could be avoided if employers were proactive in assessing risk, had a specific rather than general policy for slips and trips, and made use of the existing five-point prevention framework from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

The congress is calling for employers to conduct workplace risk assessments using HSE or local authority inspectors if necessary. It wants to see greater involvement of staff safety representatives and says they should be encouraged to involve colleagues directly in accident avoidance.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 9-15 January 2003