Lack of safety audits ‘costing companies 350% more on claims’
Health and safety organisation Olive Safety has today issued a warning to companies that non-compliance with health and safety legislation can cost 350% more than the cost of carrying out a safety audit.
Their call came in the wake of figures released by the Health and Safety Authority (HAS) which highlighted that there have been 37 fatalities in the workplace this year, only 13 less than the total for the entire year of 2006.
The latest figures for non-fatal accidents record that almost 8,000 people were involved in incidents of this kind, costing companies on average €2,750 through costs and lost revenue.
The latest figures also show that on average Irish companies were fined €27,662 by the HAS in prosecutions.
“The actual cost of carrying out a safety audit and ensuring that a company is fully compliant with the recent legislation is significantly less than the average total cost associated with workplace accidents, fatal and non-fatal incidents”, says Mr. Julian Rafter, general manager of Olive Safety.
“It’s no longer enough to assume that your company is safety compliant, the SHAW Act 2005 has placed the responsibility on companies themselves to review their safety system at least once annually.”
“We are seeing a trend that indicates that although workplace fatalities are decreasing, Ireland is still a country that has a high incidence of non-fatal accidents.
“A reduction in the number of accidents, illnesses and dangerous occurrences is the aim of health and safety legislation and it now allows for significantly greater fines and penalties aimed at those who continually flout health and safety laws.”
