The International Labour Organization estimates the costs of poor health and safety practices at 4 per cent of the annual gross domestic product for the global economy.
In 2016, 1.2 million occupational accidents were reported to the French NHS and 63,638 cases recognised as work-related diseases totalling 8.242 billion euros in benefits paid by the NHS branch for work accidents (AT-MP).
Hidden HR costs may originate from: failings in work organisation, management problems, strategic misalignment of HR functions (recruitment, training, wages) and poor employee relations.
These will result in absenteeism, presenteeism, high staff turnover, decreasing work quality with falls in productivity that can undermine overall performance.
The root of these problems is often a lack of knowledge and understanding about work : for instance, it may be organisational changes that underestimate the impact on workstations and ways of working; lack of prioritisation of the age structure across the company while evidence shows a clear link between age and absenteeism due to inadequate workstations; management methods disconnected from the real world; conflicts within teams; lack of employee support during the implementation of a business project, etc.
