The ‘Safety Culture Maturity Report 2024’ indicates that senior leaders may not be fully prepared to handle risk, with an average score of only 44% in risk management expertise.
This discovery overlaps with data from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) showing over 60,000 non-fatal workplace injuries and nearly a million cases of work-related stress or anxiety reported last year.
“Poor understanding in the Boardroom concerning directors’ personal criminal law obligations is still letting down many organisations,” says Dr. Simon Joyston-Bechal of Turnstone Law, a specialist Health and Safety lawyer.
“We can expect renewed vigour on enforcement by the Health & Safety Executive under the new Government, so there has never been a more important time for directors to understand that they can be personally criminally prosecuted with potential jail sentences if they are not as proactive as would be expected for someone in their role.”
The report evaluated data across ten key health and safety modules, including health safety and safety data collection, manager knowledge, worker and contractor engagement, and emergency preparedness, with some areas needing more than others.
The report also states that businesses operating in specific industries also perform poorly, with IT and Media (41%), Arts and Recreation (42%), and Public Service (42%) scoring in the bottom three across all industries. Industries such as Mining (57%), Utilities (56%), and Professional Services (55%) were all found to be more mature in comparison.
These findings suggest a more significant concern about the health and safety protocols and how management needs to be equipped to handle the risk.