Senedd Election Manifesto

Key statistics

In Wales, work-related ill health remains a significant and persistent challenge. Each year, an estimated 94,000 new and long-standing cases are reported, which is equivalent to 6,150 per 100,000 workers, a rate broadly in line with the rest of Great Britain. Over half of these cases are linked to stress, depression or anxiety, while nearly a third are musculoskeletal disorders. The impact is substantial, with around 1.8 million working days lost annually to work-related ill health in Wales, averaging 1.51 days per worker. Crucially, this rate has remained largely unchanged in recent years, underlining the need for stronger action to protect workers’ health and wellbeing. [1]

In 2024-25, ten worker fatalities were reported in Wales, consistent with the five-year average. This represents a rate of 0.66 per 100,000 workers, higher than the Great Britain rate of 0.4. Year-to-year fluctuations are expected due to relatively small numbers, but overall fatal injury rates in Wales remain consistently above the GB average. [2]

Time for action

We urge the incoming Welsh Government to prioritise preventing workplace harm by taking the following actions within its devolved responsibilities:

• Embedding health and safety at the heart of Welsh rural industries.
• OSH education and skills.
• Preventing psychosocial harm and ending workplace mental health stigma. 
• Introducing a national asbestos register for Wales.
• Embedding safe construction across Wales.

Embedding health and safety at the heart of Welsh rural industries  

Rural industries are central to Wales’s economy, culture, and communities, but they also present some of the highest workplace risks. Agriculture consistently has one of the highest rates of fatal injury of any sector, with risks ranging from operating heavy machinery and livestock handling to lone working and challenging terrain.

While health and safety law is reserved for the UK Parliament, many of the key levers for improving outcomes sit within the responsibilities of the Welsh Government. Decisions on agriculture policy, land management, rural development, and mental health support all shape the conditions in which people live and work.

Improving safety in rural Wales is therefore not just about compliance—it is about protecting lives, sustaining family businesses and livelihoods, and supporting resilient rural communities. A proactive and preventative approach can stop harm, reduce injuries and fatalities, improve wellbeing, and ensure that the transition to more sustainable farming and land use is delivered safely.

By embedding health and safety into rural policy, Wales can lead the way in creating a safer, healthier future for its rural workforce and communities.

Calls to action

• Fund a Welsh Government, prevention-led farm safety programme focused on the highest-risk activities (vehicles, livestock handling, working at height, confined spaces). 
  
  • Grants for safer machinery and retrofitting
  • Support for safer farm layouts and equipment
  • Practical, on-farm interventions — not just inspections
• Expand mental health support for farmers and rural workers
  Address psychosocial risk factors such as isolation, and fatigue.

OSH education and skills  

In Wales, the case for skills investment is particularly compelling. The economy is undergoing significant structural change driven by digitalisation, decarbonisation, and demographic shifts. Apprenticeships and vocational training are therefore not only routes into employment, but essential tools for building resilient communities and raising productivity across the nation.  

Crucially, skills and health and safety must be understood as mutually reinforcing. A well-trained workforce is safer, healthier, more adaptable, and better equipped to respond to hazards and risks including emerging risks. Embedding health and safety within skills development across the education system from the Curriculum for Wales through to apprenticeships and lifelong learning will ensure that workers enter the labour market with both technical competence and a strong awareness of hazards. They will also have an understanding of risks and controls measures, worker rights, roles and responsibility, and wellbeing.

Building a stronger, fairer Wales starts with investing in both education and workforce skills, with safety embedded throughout. While the Curriculum for Wales already provides a strong foundation through its focus on health and wellbeing and careers and work-related experiences, there is an opportunity to build on this by more explicitly integrating workplace health and safety awareness into learning.

Calls to action

• Invest in education and workforce skills with health and safety embedded throughout.
  The Curriculum for Wales already emphasises health, wellbeing, and work-related experiences. There is an opportunity to integrate workplace health and safety, hazards awareness, risks and controls, worker rights and responsibilities, more explicitly.
• Equip young people with practical skills and understanding for real working environments.
• Increase funding for health and safety training for SMEs.

Preventing psychosocial harm and ending workplace mental health stigma

Workplace mental health remains one of the most significant, and too often an unspoken challenge facing Wales’s workforce. Too many people still struggle in silence, held back by stigma, fear, or the belief that speaking up could put their job or reputation at risk. This culture of shame doesn’t just harm individuals but also drives absence, lowers productivity, and pushes people out of the workforce altogether. In an economy that depends on skills, retention, and resilience, ignoring mental health at work is no longer an option.
 
Creating mentally healthy workplaces is about more than support. It’s about preventing harm in the first place, providing positive and inclusive cultures, having strong and visible leadership, and setting clear expectations. When employers take mental health seriously, people are more likely to stay, perform, and contribute fully. Robust risk assessments that include psychosocial hazards and risks must be in place. Early intervention, open conversations, and confident management can prevent issues from escalating and reduce long-term costs for both employers and public services.
 
For Wales, embedding mental health into the fabric of working life is a practical step toward a stronger economy and a fairer society—one where people are not just able to work, but able to thrive without fear or stigma.

Calls to action

• Use the Well-being of Future Generations framework 
  
  • Align workplace mental health with national wellbeing goals, making it a clear expectation across public bodies.  
  • Use public sector leadership to model best practice as a major employer in Wales. 
• Improve data and accountability 
  
  • Strengthen data collection on work-related stress, depression and anxiety, absence, and presenteeism.  
  • Link insights to targeted interventions and policy adjustments. 

Introducing a national asbestos register for Wales

Although asbestos use was banned in the UK decades ago, it remains present in many buildings across Wales, particularly in schools, hospitals and older housing stock. Sadly, as a result, many people, and workers in particular, will continue to become seriously ill and die prematurely for years to come. It is vital that further exposure and harm are prevented through urgent joint action. 

While legal responsibility for health and safety sits largely with the UK Parliament, the impact of asbestos is deeply embedded within devolved areas overseen by the Welsh Government. From managing the public estate and delivering education and healthcare services to overseeing housing, regeneration, and decarbonisation programmes, decisions taken in Wales directly influence how effectively asbestos risks are controlled.

Asbestos management is therefore not only a regulatory issue, but a matter of public health, workforce protection, and economic resilience. Poor management can lead to harmful exposures, long-term illness and significant costs for individuals and public services. Conversely, proactive and coordinated action can prevent harm, support safe working environments, and ensure that major policy priorities, such as net zero and infrastructure investment are delivered safely.

By taking a strategic, cross-government approach to asbestos management, Wales can better protect its workforce and communities, while demonstrating leadership in integrating health and safety across devolved responsibilities.

Calls to action

• Create a national Welsh asbestos register for public buildings 
  Improve transparency and risk management by establishing a consistent, accessible database of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). 
• Embed asbestos awareness in skills and training 
  Ensure construction, maintenance, and retrofit training programmes include mandatory asbestos awareness components. 

Embedding safe construction across Wales

The construction sector is fundamental to Wales’s economic future through delivering the homes, infrastructure, and green transition the country needs. But it remains one of the highest-risk industries, where failures in training and health and safety can have life-changing consequences.
 
Embedding a stronger culture of health and safety is not just a regulatory necessity; it is essential to preventing harm, protecting workers, improving project delivery, and maintaining public confidence in the sector. Investment in skills and health and safety must go together. A well-trained construction workforce is not only more productive, but is far less likely to experience accidents, delays, and costly errors. In a sector facing skills shortages and an ageing workforce, Wales cannot afford to treat health and safety as an add-on. Instead, it should be built into every stage from planning stages and capacity building throughout education and apprenticeships and continuous professional development on site.
 
There is also a wider economic and social case. Safer construction sites reduce pressure on public services, lower costs for employers, and support more sustainable growth. By taking a proactive, system-wide approach, the Welsh Government can use levers including procurement, training, and regulation.
 
The Welsh Government can set a clear expectation that high-quality construction in Wales means safe construction.

Calls to action

• Invest in modern training methods 
  
  • Support FE colleges and training providers to use simulation, VR, and on-site practical training environments for high-risk scenarios.  
  • Create a national digital skills passport recording safety qualifications across jobs and sites.  
  • Provide mental health literacy to workers and site supervisors and managers. 
• Promote a culture shift 
  
  • Launch a national “Safety in Construction Wales” campaign focused on leadership, worker voice, and reporting of near misses.  
  • Align with the Well-being of Future Generations Act by framing safe work as a long-term national outcome.