Three reasons, and who pays

Why does a workplace spend money and time on safety? Three reasons, and people in this trade list them in the same order. It is right: nobody should be hurt by earning a living. The law demands it. And harm costs money, usually far more than the people paying expect.

In Britain the main law is from 1974. It says an employer must look after workers' health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable. That phrase means: weigh the risk against the cost and trouble of removing it, and do what a reasonable person would. It does not say make everything perfectly safe.

The law says an employer must do what is reasonably practicable. What does that ask for?

• Do only what costs nothing.
• Weigh the risk against the cost and trouble of removing it, and do what is reasonable.
• Make the workplace completely safe, whatever it costs.

Harm costs money, and the bill is shared out oddly. Britain's safety body added up the cost of workplace injury and new illness for one year, 2023/24: about 23 billion pounds. Of that, the hurt workers and their families carried about 58 pounds in every hundred. Employers carried about 19, and the government the rest.

Of every 100 pounds that workplace harm costs Britain in a year, how much falls on the hurt workers and their families?

Pick one. Nothing is scored.

• About 10
• About 25
• About 60
• About 90

An employer's own bill is bigger than it looks, too. Insurance pays the obvious part: the compensation. It does not pay for the lost days, the cover worker, the manager's time on the investigation, the damaged machine, or the late order. Picture one accident at a small firm: the hidden part is usually the larger part.

Move the control to set how long the hurt worker is off. Picture a firm paying 500 pounds a week in sick pay and 700 a week for a cover worker, plus a one-off 2,000 pounds for the investigation and the repair. Made-up round numbers.

Move the control.

Each card is a reason somebody acted on safety. Which of the three reasons is it?

One card at a time. Tap the pile it belongs to.

A café owner says a non-slip mat costs 40 pounds and nobody has slipped yet, so it can wait. Using the three reasons, what is missing from that?

• Only the money reason. The law has nothing to say about a mat.
• All three. A slip is likely in a wet kitchen, the law asks for what is reasonable and 40 pounds is reasonable, and one slip would cost far more than the mat.
• Nothing. The law only acts after someone is hurt.