RS health and safety report points to lingering problems and room for improvement across industry

Based on a survey of 545 individuals from across industry the “Improving the Standard” report - which is now in its third year - offers a comprehensive snapshot of the state of health and safety across a wide range of industries.

The report covers three key areas for H&S professionals: the management of Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), business strategy and compliance, and factors affecting the future of health and safety in the next 12 months.

Amongst other key findings, this year’s report identifies a concerning decline in confidence in the ability of EHS teams to keep staff safe and do their jobs effectively (with metrics falling to their lowest in three years), and a corresponding reduction in confidence (from 81 per cent to 75 per cent this year) in organisations’ capabilities to protect employees from physical harm.

This year’s figures also suggest that companies are failing to give mental health the attention it warrants, with provision in this area falling from 55 per cent last year to 53 per cent.  

Whilst company strategy priorities remain the same as a year ago, with accident prevention topping the list at 37 per cent, this year’s survey also points to a downward trend in the measurement of KPIs, with slight dips in the proportion of respondents recording their all-accident and near-miss rates.

As with last year’s report, training and development are still seen as the most impactful on compliance by 69 per cent of those surveyed, followed by workplace culture at 65 per cent. Meanwhile, the next biggest risk to an organisation’s compliance was cited as limitations in skills or expertise within the EHS function: more than half (53%) mentioned this and it has increased year on year since the 2023 RS health and safety report

In line with this finding, when asked about what factors could help improve the company’s H&S compliance in the coming 12 months, 28 per cent cited staff retention, up from 25 per cent in 2024 and 15 per cent in 2023.

Commenting on this year’s findings Raj Patel, managing director of RS in the UK and Ireland, said: “Environmental, health and safety (EHS) professionals are facing an increasing number of challenges to their day-to-day practice. Some key areas like mental wellbeing still have significant room for improvement, with the figures showing a notable difference in capabilities when it comes to physical and mental health.” 

The RS ‘Improving the Standard’ report can be downloaded in full by visiting https://uk.rs-online.com/web/content/m/hs-industry-report.