Top firms fail on safety reporting

Four out of 10 top British companies are still failing to report on their health and safety performance, a year after the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) asked them to come clean and publish their health and safety policies and performance.

Last year the government and HSC "challenged" Britain's top 350 companies to commit to reporting annually, from 2002 onwards, against targets in line with the HSC guidance, Health and safety in annual reports. The latest figures show reporting increased from 47% in 1995 to 60% in 2001.

A study of the provision of health and safety information in the annual reports of top UK companies is available from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA, tel: 01787 881165, fax: 01787 319995.