RoSPA Calls For Leadership In Health & Safety

Renewed efforts to prevent accidents and ill-health at work are needed if the UK is to rise to the challenge of leading by example, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said today (26 September). 

RoSPA Chief Executive Tom Mullarkey, in his opening speech to the Society's Directors' Responsibilities Conference at the Hilton Hotel, Glasgow, said it was time for a "step change" in national health and safety performance. 

Provisional figures show that 241 workers were fatally injured in Britain in 2006/07, up from 217 during the previous year. Thousands of people die each year from past exposure to harmful agents such as asbestos or other cancer causing agents, and it is estimated that up to 1,000 workers and members of the public are killed in work-related road crashes. 

Tom Mullarkey said:  

"In the UK we do have a better record than most of our European partners, but we still have big problems. We have a duty to show the way on health and safety both in Europe - especially in the new EU states - and throughout all emerging economies where health and safety practices lag far behind what we would regard as even basic provision.  

"Our record in health and safety is one of which we can be both proud, particularly when we look at the rest of the world, and ashamed, especially when we take stock honestly of how much better we could do." Nearly 200 delegates at the conference, titled ‘From Liability to Leadership’, listened as Mullarkey outlined some of the strengths of the UK's health and safety system, such as employee and union involvement and the requirement for risk assessment. But he also said there were many weaknesses, such as the: 

• under-resourcing by the Government;

Stronger leadership by politicians, health and safety professionals, industry associations, and trades unions are needed if change is to come about, he said. Renewed focus at the corporate level was of particular importance. 

"We believe that businesses, and particularly their directors and senior managers, must seize upon health and safety afresh as an exciting challenge; one which is full of opportunity and an area where they personally can make a huge difference, not only to the well-being of their people, but to the overall success of their organisation," he said.

Finishing his speech, Mr Mullarkey said: “Who would you rather follow, in business or in war? An officer who hides behind the rules, tries to offload the responsibility, thinks only of liability and turns away when things go wrong? Or someone who inspires trust and loyalty by genuinely caring about his or her own staff and by demonstrating that commitment, day on day, by leading injury prevention from the front? I think we all know the answer.”

Source: RoSPA press release

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