Most frequently broken Health & Safety rules revealed

Phoenix Health & Safety surveyed 1,500 hospitality workers in the UK to discover which health and safety regulations are most commonly broken in workplaces. The survey also examined attitudes to reporting breaches and found that one in five hospitality workers don’t report health and safety risks to superiors, with 35% of them seeing health and safety rules as unnecessary.

In addition, almost 35% of hospitality workers admitted that they cut health and safety rules to speed up work.

Nick Higginson, CEO of Phoenix Health & Safety, said: “It is easy to forget the importance of regulations and fall into bad habits if they’re not addressed on a regular basis. This is why frequent training is imperative to ensure employees have an up-to-date understanding of all health and safety measures in place and why they matter. 

“It is vital that a potential hazard in the workplace is reported to the relevant persons, whether that be a supervisor or safety manager, as soon as it has been identified so it can be dealt with immediately. Not doing so can result in accidents and injuries that could have been otherwise avoided.

“Slips, trips and falls account for around half of all reported major injuries to employees, which is why employers should ensure risks in this area are always addressed.”

Almost a quarter of respondents (24%) reported slipping and tripping hazards not being addressed. 

The most commonly broken health and safety rules in the hospitality industry include:

1. Employees see the rules as unnecessary (35%) 

2. People think the risk does not seem great enough to need the rules (35%)

3. To speed up work (35%) 

4. Bad habits becoming commonplace (33%) 

5. People being unaware that the rule existed (28%)

“By looking at these results we can see that a major reason why regulations are being broken is a poor understanding of the rules and why they’re in place, with 35% of people seeing rules as unnecessary,” said Nick.

The most frequently broken health and safety regulations in hospitality are:

1. Not reporting an incident to superiors (39%) 

2. Slipping/tripping hazards not addressed (24%) 

3. Not doing adequate risk assessments (19%) 

4. Individuals choosing not to use appropriate PPE (16%)

5. Individuals not having access to appropriate PPE (13%)

6. Not following working from height guidelines (13%)

7. Not following moving and handling guidelines (12%)

8. Blocking fire escapes or other essential gangways (11%)

9. Individuals choosing not to use office equipment that could prevent injury (6%)

10. Not having clear signage (6%)

Summarising the findings from the study, Nick concludes: “Whilst health and safety regulations may sometimes be perceived as unnecessary and a barrier to productive work, it’s important to remember that they play a crucial and potentially life saving role in the workplace. 135 workers and 68 members of the public were killed in work-related accidents in 2022/234, signalling how this is a serious issue which can result in fatalities.

“It is the responsibility of organisations to ensure that all health and safety regulations are in place and a culture of following the rules is installed in the workplace, but it is also the responsibility of employees themselves to ensure the regulations are followed.”

Instilling a safety culture within the workplace can be done by relevant employees taking an accredited, industry-standard course such as the IOSH Managing Safely Course, which will provide the knowledge needed to be responsible for the health and safety of others in the workplace. 

https://www.phoenixhsc.co.uk/iosh-courses