Stay safe - Health and safety in the recession: RoSPA urges firms not to ignoresafety during the recession

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is urging employers not to cut corners on health and safety during the economic downturn.

Roger Bibbings, RoSPA's occupational safety adviser, said: "Given the current financial climate, there is a danger that occupational health and safety could be seen as a problem largely solved - a 'nice-to-have' rather than a really essential social and economic ingredient. There could be a temptation to cut corners, reduce standards, or delay introducing essential protective measures."

Although it may be tempting to cut back on health and safety in order to stretch budgets, it is vital that companies continue to ensure their employees' health and safety. In a recession, it is perhaps more important than ever that increasing health and safety casualties is not part of the price paid by workers and the public for the tough economic times. Roger Bibbings also stated: "A more compelling argument for keeping faith with health and safety in a recession is that when there are no longer opportunities to improve the bottom line by increasing turnover, controlling loss becomes even more important. And recession is here at a time when penalties for noncompliance are being increased substantially."