You couldn’t make this stuff up. Two workers have been compensated to the tune of almost £17,000 after being injured in Health & Safety breaches. But wait for it…

…the duo were injured while working for the Health & Safety Executive!

One received £11,473 in compensation and costs after being hurt in a faulty lift at an HSE office in 2014. And the other got £5,000 after suffering hearing loss at work.

Most embarrassing

In total, 368 staff have been injured while working for the HSE since 2010.

This works out at a rate of more than one a week!

Data shows Health & Safety concerns were reported 1,764 times from 2009 to 2016 by worried HSE staff:

• among them was a risk of ‘potential explosion’ on HSE premises from a badly installed gas fitting
• 35 incidents were so serious they were put on the HSE’s national database of serious industrial accidents and diseases
• the reports show HSE managers reached just 25 of their 69 safety targets

The HSE say its Health & Safety record ‘compares well to overall levels’ and that it is committed to continuously improving its practices.