HSENI produces draft corporate plan

While the draft Corporate Plan cannot be finalised in the absence of a Minister for the Economy, the HSENI Board has agreed this clear strategic direction for the organisation. Given the overwhelmingly positive support received at consultation, HSENI will use this draft document to set its priorities until the NI Assembly and Executive is restored and a Minister for the Economy is in place to consider the draft.

In the Corporate Plan, HSENI has set out its mission ‘to work with others to reduce serious work-related injury and ill health’. Strategically, HSENI will focus on preventing the most serious workplace health and safety issues in high risk industries and activities.

In addition, for a number of years HSENI has been increasing its activity and focus on occupational health issues. Given the potential short and long term costs to workers and to our economy from ill-health at work, this Corporate Plan represents a step change in activity in this important area which is devastating many lives and costing the Northern Ireland economy over £238m every year.

Over the lifetime of this Corporate Plan, HSENI, working with others, plans to achieve the following three key outcomes:

• Reduce Serious and Fatal Accidents by 10% to no more than 50 per annum on average;
• Reduce Major Accidents by 10% to no more than 350 per annum on average; and
• Reduce Over 3 Day Accidents by 5% to no more than 1700 per annum on average

These three targets are challenging and are in large part dependent on the health and safety performance of other parties. This underscores the fact that this Corporate Plan represents a shared vision between HSENI, NI employers and employees. In addition, this draft Plan focuses on a sector based approach and specifies the challenges and priorities in key industry sectors.

HSENI ran a consultation exercise from 6 April to 29 June 2018. A summary of the consultation responses is available to view at www.hseni.gov.uk/publications/analysis-and-summary-consultation-responses-and-hseni-comments