Recent statistics show that more than one million injuries and 2.3 million cases of ill health are encountered by workers in this country every year, causing UK businesses around 40 million working days and forcing more than 25,000 workers to temporarily or permanently leave their jobs. For employers, this translates into £495 per year in direct costs for every employee who left.

Those who seek and provide M&E contracting jobs need to acknowledge the importance of upholding workplace standards in order to guarantee safety. Losing a skilled employee to work-related death, injury or illness can have a bigger impact than any direct financial costs might suggest.

In sharp contrast, investments on workplace safety are repaid by improved productivity and efficiency, improved quality of work, less staff absence, and less staff turnover. It is therefore fair to suggest that tackling the causes of accidental losses is as valuable as any other investment in ensuring the success of all M&E contracting jobs.

Those providers of M&E contracting jobs who uphold high standards of health and safety are often the most successful, regardless of their sizes. Workplace safety equates to excellent service quality, which in turn leads to customer satisfaction and opportunities for future business. Even recruitment benefits from a strong emphasis on safety. In today’s increasingly competitive skills market, highly trained engineers have the luxury of choice when it comes to employment. They naturally would prefer those providers of M&E contracting jobs who can guarantee safe working environments.