The Institute of Directors and the Health and Safety Council have launched new health and safety guidelines

The Institute of Directors and the Health and Safety Council have launched new health and safety (H&S) guidelines.

The Institute said protecting the H&S of employees is an ‘essential part of risk management.’

The new guidelines are an initiative to remind directors that it is their responsibility to take the lead on health and safety issues and establish policies and practices that make it an integral part of their culture and values, said the HSC in a statement.

HSE figures reveal the human and financial cost of failing to address H&S:

More than 200 people are killed at work in the United Kingdom each year. This does not include work-related road deaths.

In 2006, 30 million working days were lost in the UK to occupational ill health and injury, imposing an annual cost to society of £30bn (more than 3% of GDP).

Surveys show that about two million people suffer from an illness that they believe to be caused or made worse by work.

Many thousands of deaths each year can be attributed to occupational illnesses, including some cancers and respiratory diseases.

Source: IoD website