Health & Safety the new focus to Improving Organisational Performance

Jan. 21, 2011 - PRLog -- As the UK begins to move out of the challenging recession, the HSE urges all health and safety practitioners to maintain a focus on health and safety within the workplace.  More than ever - we need to ensure that people remain healthy and at work - motivated and engaged.  

A report by CIPD (2010) highlights how employees are already reporting reduced job satisfaction, increased levels of regular excessive pressure and lower levels of trust in senior managers.  From an organisational perspective, this could be seen as leading to a decrease in productivity and the cost of these factors should not be ignored.  In addition, the IPA (2008) suggests that only 12 per cent of UK employees are highly engaged in their jobs and as a result this is costing the UK £44 billion a year in lost productivity.


A key challenge to tackling these factors is by raising the profile of health and safety activities in the workplace, particularly as this is an area that becomes an easy target when the budgetary scissors are on hand.  For some health and safety practitioners, this may mean thinking outside the realms of stress management and risk assessment and the traditional perspectives of occupational health. The most successful organisations are those that have recognised that good health and well-being are affected by all aspects of the employee experience, and then address it in different ways and embed it in the culture of the organisation. For some, this means moving from a traditional outlook and developing a proactive partnership approach, involving different stakeholder groups.


For many employers, making the business case for investment in the area of Health & Safety has not often been a priority. In the light of a major recession, though, this is rapidly changing.  To date, relatively few organisations have carried out a robust evaluation of the impact and return on their well-being activities. Often, a relatively quick solution is carried out which utilises existing research evidence, that highlights both the significant risk to organisations if well-being and engagement are not taken seriously, and the huge business benefits that can be realised.  Health and Safety practitioners have a significant role in the meaningful and sustainable improvement in the performance of the organisation and its employees and investment in these professionals will provide further benefits to the business.




It is people that are the greatest asset to an organisation and by having qualified health & Safety professionals in place, that support staff, prove to be a valuable asset.  


As a market leading Health & Safety Recruitment Consultancy we are able to provide a huge selection of Health & Safety candidates across; Quality, Environmental Health & Safety, Risk and Occupational Hygiene.

We provide candidates for roles for all levels including Health & Safety Managers, Safety Officers, Safety Engineers, Risk Managers & Advisors and Health & Safety Consultants.

Please contact Allen & York today by visiting http://www.allen-york.com

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Allen & York are a leading international Sustainability Recruitment consultancy, offering jobs in Environment, CSR & Sustainability, Renewable Energy and Carbon Management, plus Health and Safety Management.