Costs of workplace health and safety Britain's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a national regulatory body overseeing workplace health and safety. In its 2007 performance report, HSE reported the following statistics:
•241 workers were killed at work.
•141,350 employees suffered serious injuries at work.
•2.2 million people were suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work. 646,000 of these were new cases in the last 12 months.
•36 million days were lost overall (1.5 days per worker), 30 million due to work-related ill health and 6 million due to workplace injury.
•£20 billion (approximately 2% of GDP) is the estimated annual cost to society of work-related accidents and ill health.
To promote improved health and safety, HSE provides strategic direction, investigates and enforces regulations, and works with employers and other groups to promote better workplace practices. HSE provides guidance for common sources of injury or illness, including the following.
•Slips, trips and falls
•Hazardous substances such as chemicals, dust, fumes, and bacteria
•Musculoskeletal disorders
•Noise
•Electricity
•Work equipment and machinery
•Maintenance and building work
•Workplace transport
•Fire and explosion
•Radiation
•Stress
SOURCE: HSE, Performance Report 2007 and An Introduction to Health and Safety, available at www.hse.gov.uk(accessed June 2, 2010).
REQUIRED:
A.Employers incur many costs because of health and safety issues, including:
•Lost worker time
•Employer-paid medical costs
•Training to replace workers who are ill or injured
•Record-keeping to comply with governmental regulation
How would each of these costs be recognized in a process costing system?
B.Who is responsible for workplace health and safety? Discuss the responsibilities for each of the following groups:
•Governments
•Employers
•Managers
•Workers
•Customers
C.What goal should an individual company establish for workplace health and safety? Should the goal be to meet government regulations? Should the goal be to experience zero health and safety incidents? Or is some other goal appropriate? What values did you use to arrive at your answer?