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Social sustainability

Social sustainability is a strategic priority for IOSH – we have long understood the commercial and social value of putting people at the heart of an organisation. Now, we want to support businesses around the world to grow more resilient by investing in a safe and healthy workforce.

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Featured course

Managing sustainably

This course shows how occupational safety and health management can contribute to a positive workforce culture and a sustainable business.

It's for managers and supervisors who want to gain a practical understanding of ways to prioritise worker welfare and wellbeing.

  • Leading sustainably
  • Environment for business

Sustainability is important in many ways

  1. A workplace is unsustainable if working practices lead to worker fatalities and injuries. Globally the cost of work-related injury and deaths is calculated at almost $3 trillion. This has a huge impact on workers across the world, with workers in the UK alone losing £9.6 billion in income.
  2. Socially sustainable business practices are being driven by governments through the supply and value chain. Investors, regulators, buyers, workers, customers, the media and politicians are increasingly asking questions and making decisions based on how businesses look after their people.
  3. Those working under strong, progressive OSH management systems tend to show improved morale, productivity and loyalty.
  4. Smart businesses that focus on ‘people’ see a healthy return on investment. A report by the International Social Security Association (ISSA) estimated that every euro invested in occupational safety and health sees a return of €2.20.

Catch the Wave

Our Catch the Wave campaign is designed to help OSH professionals make an even bigger difference by placing people at the heart of business sustainability. Together, we can ensure your organisation’s social and human sustainability agenda takes a giant leap forward.

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UN sustainable development goals

We believe good occupational safety and health management has a role to play in meeting 51 of the 169 targets supporting the United Nation's sustainable development goals. And it can directly contribute to 30 of these targets.