Health and safety, why do so many companies ignore it?

-  Due to lack of management interest in the safety issues

-  Some of them think that the safety is the waste of time and money

   (but infact safety save the money and time)

-  Safety may be on low priority because of Complexity Management System or due to Confliction of demands.

-  Staff may be not competent i.e. lack of knowledge, abilities to perform the job in safe ways, training and education.

I have found quite often it is the employees that ignore HSE or are ignorant of it, not the company. The problem tends to be managers who do not enforce or are unaware, for example; I instruct an employee to change a light fitting, he can't be bothered going to the store for the insulated step ladders and decides to stand on a chair, I have seen this many times.

In this day and age the last thing a company wants or needs is a law suit over HSE.

Ignorance to Health and safety issues may be both due to financial as well as administrative.Management usually give more focus to issues related dierctly finance that main business issue but there must be a competent HSE personnel who can convice the importance of Health and Safety to the managemnent and shows the indirect likns of failure in health and safety to the financial loss that means along with management being more financial concsious the lack of HSE personnel competency also contribute to the dilution in Health and Safety practice.

1. Workplace accidents caused by workers themselves (human error)2. Companies have provided wage employment in the event of an accident it will be borne by the workers themselves3. Event of an accident, it can be caused by co-workers. experienced worker negligence. This all causes of why many companies ignore safety health safety because the cost is very large, both in terms of the system and the effects that will result after work accident

They think its a venture where there is no return on investment, especially the quick money makers.

To save money.

Hello Adrian,

yes the easy answer is to save money but if we want to go a little bit under the surface we have to admit that the problem is much more deeper.

The most important thing and problem is in the management of the firms which ignore the needs of H/S standards in their firm. If they think to save the money, time for training the staff or they have not enough knowledge in this area they reduce their possibilities to show how they are good and wealthy one.

The lack of responsibilities towards theirs staff is the first sign for everybody cooperatings entities.

I believe that some basic approach and maintainence in this sphere is essential and could be done with very small amount of expenditures.

The last very important isuue is the human element. It is not proffesional to treat the working staff as hot human being.

In everytime and every situation under harsh condition you can do something.

With best regards,

Mike H.

Main stream of Business have bbeen given priority by the managment. The impact of ignoring the health & safety is novisible , as the delay . This leads to culture where in health & safety takes a backseat.

Truely, he losses incurred by ignoring these two can be much more than the expenditure for developing  such a culture.

because if we talk about safety , we don't talk about cost , as there is no cost reduction in safety , so some companies don't care about safety because its industry is not risky like FMCG industries but incaSE LIKE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY SAFETY FIRST 

simply because they don't care about it and about the employee, money comes first.

or that they need more convincing that investing in safety gears or healthy procedures will save a lot more on the long run. good luck with that :)

may be both due to financial as well as administrative. Management usually give more focus to issues related directly finance that main business. Also they don't care about it and about the employee, money comes first