Fewer than one in every three workers would blow the whistle on their employer if they broke health and safety laws, according to the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). A YouGov poll commissioned by IOSH found that only 28 per cent of people would report their company or organisation to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if it was in breach of health and safety legislation. The survey of 1,332 employed people from across Britain found that 35 per cent would report their line manager or supervisor to their boss if they felt there was a risk they or a colleague could get hurt at work. Almost threequarters (74 per cent) said they would tell their line manager or supervisor if they felt there was a risk they or a colleague could get hurt at work. And just 50 per cent said they would tell their colleagues if they felt there was a risk they or a colleague could get hurt at work. Five per cent said they wouldn’t do any one of these. The poll found workers massively under-estimate the numbers killed and injured at work each year. ‘The fact that more than two-thirds of people said they wouldn’t blow the whistle on their employer for doing something illegal suggests a few things,’ said IOSH president Ray Hurst. ‘It could be that people are very loyal to their employers or, more likely, that they’re scared of the consequences if they get found out having told. It’s also quite possible that people don’t know how to report to the HSE.’
Most workers won’t blow the whistle
26 November, 2008 — handsignsAs reported in the Risks Newsletter 372…
Fewer than one in every three workers would blow the whistle on their employer if they broke health and safety laws, according to the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). A YouGov poll commissioned by IOSH found that only 28 per cent of people would report their company or organisation to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if it was in breach of health and safety legislation. The survey of 1,332 employed people from across Britain found that 35 per cent would report their line manager or supervisor to their boss if they felt there was a risk they or a colleague could get hurt at work. Almost threequarters (74 per cent) said they would tell their line manager or supervisor if they felt there was a risk they or a colleague could get hurt at work. And just 50 per cent said they would tell their colleagues if they felt there was a risk they or a colleague could get hurt at work. Five per cent said they wouldn’t do any one of these. The poll found workers massively under-estimate the numbers killed and injured at work each year. ‘The fact that more than two-thirds of people said they wouldn’t blow the whistle on their employer for doing something illegal suggests a few things,’ said IOSH president Ray Hurst. ‘It could be that people are very loyal to their employers or, more likely, that they’re scared of the consequences if they get found out having told. It’s also quite possible that people don’t know how to report to the HSE.’
#