HSE's first aid for firms could have unexpected cost savings

UK food manufacturers were fined more than £700,000 for breaching health and safety laws in the year to spring 2005, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

While the number of industrial accidents had fallen steadily in recent years, the figure was still too high and too many staff were off sick with work-related illness, said the HSE, which has launched a new toolkit to help companies benchmark their performance.

Available online at http://www.hse.gov.uk​, the corporate health and safety performance indicator (CHaSPI) scores companies using a questionnaire on health and safety management, sickness absence rates and occupational health risk management.

The results, which will be pub- lished, could influence insurance premiums and investment decisions, said Steve Waygood, a director at Insight Investment.

"We will be making considered use of CHaSPI in our discussions with directors of listed companies. As investors, we elect directors and it is very much in our interests for these directors to maintain good occupational health and safety conditions," said Waygood. "Not only is this the right thing to do, but history has also shown that mistakes can lead to business interruptions that affect financial performance."

Helen Sisson, technical director at Greencore, which was singled out by the HSE for its exemplary approach to health and safety, said: "I think CHaSPI is a very helpful tool, although it will need to build critical mass to be of real benefit, as I suspect only the companies with the best health and safety records will start using it and they will set a high standard."

The HSE said food businesses were fined £712,660 for health and safety breaches between April 2004 and May 2005.

Meanwhile, the number of incidents of physical and emotional exhaustion from overwork was rising, according to recruitment company Hudson.

It found 41% of engineering and manufacturing employees suffered work-related stress.