Was 2023 A Good Year For Health & Safety And What Will 2024 Bring?

As I sit down to write this last blog of the year, I have been considering that it’s been seven months since I wrote my first Arinite blog in May 2023.

So, this got me thinking about the events of the past year, and also what we may have to look forward to in 2024.

EU Retained Law

As covered in our March blog following the publication by the government of the ‘Retained EU Law Bill’ there were concerns raised about a Bonfire of health & safety laws which were introduced while the UK was a member of the European Economic Union (EEU).

Many were concerned that EEU laws including those in the ‘Six Pack’, introduced in the early 1990’s, which contained amongst other regulations, the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations which gave us Risk Assessment and the requirement for health & safety Competent Persons, could be scrapped under the so called ‘Sunset Clause’ at the end of 2023. The Sunset Clause was part of the Retained EU law Bill which intended to remove all EU legislation from the statute books at the end of 2023.

In May the Sunset Clause was changed and instead parliament chose to scrap a selected 600 laws, meaning that many of the EU Health & Safety laws would remain in place.

Covid 19 and The Workplace

For the first quarter of 2023, the nation continued to navigate the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The year began with the administration of booster shots to maintain immunity among the population.

The UK government also closely monitored the emergence of new variants and adjusted public health measures accordingly.

Workplaces continued to look very different post-pandemic with many people choosing to work from home either permanently, or for a proportion of the week. This is creating challenges for health & safety professionals and managers who need to develop strategies and processes for managing health and safety for their remote workers.

Mental Health & Wellbeing

This year saw the UK place a strong emphasis on mental health awareness and support.

Recognising the impact of the pandemic on mental well-being, the UK government, and many organisations launched initiatives to promote mental health conversations and reduce stigma.

Again, health and safety professionals and managers must consider how lone working will impact on their workforce. The HSE has also made available easily accessible mental health resources and programs and these are becoming more widely available in workplaces to address the growing need for support.

Building Safety Act

Following the Public Enquiry post Grenfell, Fire Safety legislation has been strengthened since the Building Safety Act came onto the statute books and following this in 2023, a number of new regulations and guidance has been issued aimed at high risk residential buildings.

The Building Safety Act has set a stringent regime for high-rise residential buildings, as well as overseeing the wider system for regulating safety and performance of all buildings and increasing the competence of relevant regulators and industry professionals.

HSE Annual Statistics

In November the HSE published its annual work-related ill health and injury statistics. The figures show that 135 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2022/23, while 561,000 workers sustained a self-reported non- fatal injury in the workplace during the same period.

The statistics also reveal that 1.8 million workers reported they were suffering from work-related ill health in 2022/23. An estimated 35.2 million working days were lost in 2022/23 due to self-reported work-related ill health or injury.

HSE’s statistics also reveal the impact work-related ill health and workplace injuries are having on Britain’s economic performance with an estimated annual costs of workplace injury and new cases of work-related ill health reaching £20.7 billion, representing a £1.9 billion increase compared with 2019/20.

Looking forward to 2024

Although I don’t have a crystal ball and can’t predict how 2024 will pan out, I can suggest some planning you may want to consider.

An important aspect of good health & safety management is communication and if you are thinking about planning for some campaigns or events in 2024, then look no further than the NHS employers calendar of national campaigns, awards and awareness days that may help you to plan some health and safety related activities or promotions.

The festive or any holiday season can be a time of happiness, excitement, sadness or reflection, but whatever it means to you, can I on behalf of the Arinite Team wish all our readers and customers a very, merry, safe and healthy festive season.

Contact us

Arinite clients worldwide appreciate we provide practical, no-nonsense advice about what you need to do to establish and maintain a safe and healthy working environment. Our team of health and safety consultants take pride in keeping health and safety simple. If you need to call upon our expert assistance, or just for an informal chat, please call our office +44 207 947 9581, or type an enquiry to: https://www.arinite.com/contact-us/.
Derek McStea