UK businesses are losing 30 million working days a year as a result of poor health and safety, at a cost to the economy of £12bn, it has been claimed.
Chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive, Geoffrey Podger, called on employers to make efforts to tackle the problem, in a speech to the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Occupational Medicine.
He said that: “The UK has one of the best health and safety records anywhere in the world but with 30 million working days still lost each year more must be done to embrace the challenges of the modern workplace.”
In 2005-6, work-related ill-health and injury meant that 30 million days were lost in total, costing the UK a “staggering” £12bn, Podger said.
“As the structure of the economy shifts and the pressures of modern life change we have to find effective solutions to the new challenges in order to keep people healthy and in employment.”
Currently, common health problems such as stress and back pain are the largest cause of sickness absence and work-related ill health.
Podger added: “Let us tackle this issue together and work in partnership with employers, employees, trade union representatives and occupational health professionals to build a workforce that is fit for life, fit for work and fit for the future.”
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