1.5m working days lost at firms in Wales, denting productivity

Productivity at businesses in Wales has been dented because of injuries in the workplace, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has revealed.

During 2008-09, 5,470 people in the country suffered injuries that required them to take more than three days off work.

When combined with other absences caused by ill health as a result of work activities, 1.5 million working days were lost, which could impact upon employee productivity if they find their workload is increased in the absence of colleagues.

The HSE said these lost working days come at a “massive cost” to the economy, as well as individual firms.

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As such, it makes business sense for health and safety to be as robust as possible.

“Simple assessments of risk, ease of tasks, accessibility, protection from harmful substances and training can and do prevent many incidents,” advised Terry Rose, the HSE’s director in Wales.

The HSE also revealed that firms in Scotland experienced 3.1 million lost working days during 2008-09.