Businesses urged to kick bad habits to reduce work injuries

Posted: November 27, 2012

Posted in: Workplace Injuries 

The vast majority of workplace accidents in Northern Ireland could be avoided if more employers worked to stamp out bad habits and promote a strong safety culture in their businesses, said a health and safety body.

It is estimated that in 80% of workplace accidents, unsafe conduct is a contributory factor – people either adopting unsafe work practices or failing to follow company policies on health and safety.

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s (IOSH) Northern Ireland Branch has encouraged business bosses to adopt behavioural safety strategies to help cut the number of employees injured at work. Branch chair Kieran Robinson said:

“Unsafe behaviour in the workplace causes a significant number of Northern Ireland’s work place accidents. For example, we need to tackle the problem of employees on construction sites who openly flout company rules by not wearing hi-vis vests or hard hats, despite these being provided by their employer.“

“It’s also a shame that during this time of recession, some companies are putting ‘programme over safety’, and sticking to bad habits with the ‘we’ve always done it like this’ approach — but there’s simply no excuse for unsafe behaviour.”

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