Workplace personal injury risk management ‘is essential’

Posted 03/12/2009

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has stated that safety legislation to prevent personal injury is vital, noting that about 1.2 million people suffer from ill health at work each year.

Its general secretary Brendan Barber was speaking in reaction to recent comments made by Conservative Party leader David Cameron, who suggested that there is too much health and safety legislation and that it has created a “strait-jacket” for employers.

Mr Barber said: “The idea that employers are being over-zealous in their application of health and safety regulation is simply not true.”

To emphasise his point, he noted that last year, there were 246,000 people who suffered a personal injury in the workplace.

He added that occupational cancers, such as those caused by , still kill up to 20,000 people each year.

Professionals union Prospect also made a statement in response to Mr Cameron’s statements, suggesting that a more “common sense approach” might address some of his concerns.