Survey reveals public vote of confidence in health and safety

HSE Press Release: E060:04 - 28 April 2004

Three out of four employers say health and safety requirements benefit their companies as a whole, according to a new MORI survey published today by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The survey also found that employers rate health and safety in their top two most important workplace issues and over 80 per cent regard HSE favourably.

Justin McCracken, HSE Deputy Director General (Operations), welcomed the findings: "This survey confirms a high level of support for health and safety - from those who face the risks and those who create them. It shows overwhelming support for our vision of health and safety as a cornerstone of a civilised society. It is also a strong vote of public confidence - from employers, employees and citizens - in HSE and the work we do alongside Local Authorities to promote sensible health and safety and to save lives.

"We are funded by the taxpayer and must reflect public expectations. The survey shows that views are divided on whether HSE enforcing the law or promoting good practice is most likely to improve health and safety. It confirms that the approach we have set out in our new strategy - to enforce the law and promote good practice and more advice - is in line with what people think will help most. It also confirms that employers and employees share our view that the people best placed to make workplaces safer are the staff and managers who work in them."

The survey, of 3,000 members of the working and non-working public and 500 employers, looked at people's understanding of the term 'health and safety', what they see as the main risks at work, who they think is responsible for health and safety and awareness and favourability of HSE compared to similar organisations.

Most employers see health and safety as good for business and disagree that it puts a strain on profits. Over 60 per cent believe health and safety requirements save them money in the long term, while only 14 per cent think health and safety law seriously hampers their business. Nearly 60 per cent say that following health and safety law defends them against unjustified compensation claims.

Citizens and employees are most concerned about road safety. Health and safety in the workplace comes next for employees while citizens are more concerned about food and medicine safety. Employers rate health and safety among their top two issues of importance in the workplace. Employees are more concerned about job satisfaction, pay and work-life balance.

Male employees are more concerned with workplace risks than their female colleagues - 74 per cent against 66 per cent - but this is likely to reflect the industries in which men and women predominate. For example, construction workers show more concern for health and safety at work than banking employees.

Two thirds of employees believe their employers take health and safety issues very seriously and the larger the organisation the more likely they are to say so. Most employees feel they have the right amount of health and safety information and training, although two in five employers have had no or not much training.

Awareness of HSE is high compared with similar organisations and HSE is well regarded in comparison to them. 85 per cent of employers who have had contact with HSE staff rate them as helpful. However, the survey gives some pointers to areas that need improvement. Small firms are less aware of HSE than larger ones and are more likely to feel health and safety requirements are bureaucratic and expensive. MORI conclude that the challenge for HSE is to embed the same health and safety culture in small enterprises as successfully as it has in larger ones.

'Attitudes towards health and safety: a quantitative survey of stakeholder opinion', by MORI Social Research Institute can be accessed on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/misc/attitudes.pdf

Notes to editors

1. MORI, commissioned by HSE, interviewed 500 senior managers with responsibility for health and safety in Great Britain; the 500 organisations comprised 300 with under 50 employees, 100 with between 50 and 250 staff; and a further 100 firms with over 250 employees. MORI also interviewed 2,002 working adults and 1,000 adult citizens. The survey took place between 23 January and 19 February 2004.
2. Employers were asked if health and safety requirements:
   
   

   	Strongly/tend to agree	Strongly/tend to disagree
   ...seriously hampered in their business	14%	78%
   ... save money in the longer term	64%	22%
   ... benefit their company as a whole	73%	16%
   ... are biased against small business	24%	54%
   ... defend against unjustified compensation claims	56%	20%

3. Citizens and employees were asked how concerned they were about:
   
   

   	Citizens very/fairly concerned	Employees very/fairly concerned
   ... food safety	87%	69%
   ...health and safety in the home	83%	65%
   ...health and safety in the workplace	82%	70%
   ...road safety	92%	83%
   ...safety of medicines	86%	66%
   ...public transport safety	78%	61%
   ... toy safety	72%	54%

4. 60 per cent of employers have had a great deal or fair amount of health and safety training. 20 per cent have had none at all. 66 per cent of employees think their employer takes health and safety very seriously: 58 per cent in small firms, 63 per cent in medium (50 - 250 employees) and 71 per cent in large firms. 19 per cent of employees think they have not had enough information and 28 per cent not enough training.

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