Figures for Great Britain (2014/15) show that 611,000 injuries occurred at work, costing UK employers an estimated £14.3 billion. The P&MM guide covers a comprehensive range of challenges faced by health and safety practitioners and HR including how to drive better health and safety practices; where to start in terms of reviewing where you are and where you need to be; setting goals and objectives; measuring KPIs and success.

John Sylvester, Director at P&MM, comments, "Major multinationals will have a comprehensive health and safety programme in place and may already be working with colleagues in HR to ensure health and safety policy messages are displayed throughout the workplace. However, the harsh fact is that many employees outside of the profession do not find the subject very engaging. Health and safety professionals face a real challenge to their soft skills in the effort to communicate issues to audiences in a way that makes the topic real and tangible. This guide looks at ways to engage and reward your workforce for positive behaviours – and in doing so boost a healthier attitude towards safety."

In a recent "Health and Safety Audit" carried out by P&MM across 52 organisations, data suggests that there is a significant gap between workplace policies and procedures and what staff actually know. Participants were asked "Do you know where to log a health and safety concern at work?" Worryingly, the majority of participants (79 percent) said they did not, with only 21 percent indicating they knew the correct procedures for their company. Perhaps an even greater cause for concern is that when participants were asked "Have you ever reported a health and safety concern at work?", over three quarters (82 percent) stated they had not, with just 18 percent saying they had.

The guide is targeted at medium to large-size organisations with a typical workforce of several thousand people. It is free, but registration is required.