Council reaps the rewards of health and safety commitment

Pendle borough council has reduced reportable accidents by 25 per cent over the last two years as a result of its commitment and investment in health and safety management.

The local authority has implemented annual risk audits, trained staff on health and safety relevant to their jobs, enlisted the support of trade unions and made workplace wellbeing an agenda item for all staff meetings.

Ian McInery, head of operational services at the council and its health and safety champion, said it is integral to the running of any organisation and the reduction in the number of accidents is fruit of their own labour.

"We have worked hard to incorporate health and safety into the organisational structure and to have staff involved at all levels, and the statistics illustrate the benefits of this hard work," he stated.

In other news, Medway council was recently fined £75,000 for health and safety breaches after an employee's fingers were partially severed while at work.