22.04.2026

Most organisations take safety seriously. It has clear ownership, structured processes, regular review and senior-level visibility. Over time, that has delivered real results, with sustained reductions in safety-related deaths, reportable injuries and overall costs since the Health & Safety at Work Act was introduced in 1974.

Wellbeing rarely benefits from the same level of structure or scrutiny.

As absence rises, stress and long-term ill health increasingly affect productivity, retention and workforce capacity, the question for leaders is no longer whether wellbeing matters but if it’s being managed with the same rigour as safety.

Here we pose four questions to help you assess how your organisation really treats wellbeing and where stronger structure may be needed.

Why this matters now

In November 2025, the Government-commissioned Keep Britain Working review put a clear economic figure on the cost of poor workplace health: £85 billion every year.

A significant portion of that cost isn’t driven by people being off work. It comes from lost productivity due to presenteeism, people still at work but operating below full capacity due to pain, fatigue, stress or low morale. By the time absence figures rise, intervention opportunities are often already missed.

Against this backdrop, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has confirmed a renewed focus on health in proactive inspections in 2026.

And, Make UK’s own research shows a clear gap: while safety is widely seen as well governed, only 48% of workers believe their board is leading on health, compared to 64% on safety.

Our survey also found weaker compliance with legally required risk assessments for health hazards, especially stress and wellbeing. Just 60% had assessed wellbeing and fewer than 50% had assessed stress, despite both being legal requirements and a clear focus of upcoming HSE inspections.

Four questions to ask yourself

1. Is wellbeing clearly owned at senior level?

For safety, accountability is usually explicit - roles are defined, responsibilities are understood, and escalation routes are clear.

For wellbeing, ownership is often less obvious.

Is it clear who is accountable for outcomes, not just activity? And does wellbeing feature in leadership conversations in the same way as safety risk?

2. Do you assess workplace wellbeing risks as systematically as safety risks?

Safety risks are identified, assessed and reviewed as part of routine operations.

Wellbeing risks - such as stress, workload, fatigue or musculoskeletal strain - are often treated less consistently.

Are these risks assessed proactively, reviewed when work changes, and acted on before issues escalate?

3. Are managers trained and confident to act early?

In safety-critical situations, managers are trained to intervene and know what to do next.

A perceived “culture of fear” - uncertainty about what’s appropriate to ask or how to respond - is understood to be a barrier to early intervention.

Do managers feel confident having early conversations, making adjustments and signposting support?

4. Do you regularly review whether your wellbeing controls actually work?

Safety systems are reviewed, tested and improved over time, often within an accredited system like ISO 45001 or HS(G)65, the HSE’s version.

Wellbeing initiatives are often launched with good intent but reviewed less rigorously.

Do you have visibility of what’s working in practice, where experience varies, and where gaps remain?

What your answers may be telling you

If these questions prompted uncertainty, you’re not alone. Make UK research shows many organisations have wellbeing policies, processes and training in place but impact is inconsistent because ownership, visibility and review are less robust than for safety.

For many organisations, the challenge is not commitment, but confidence. Addressing that gap doesn’t mean doing more, it means establishing where you are right now and applying structure and clarity to move forward.

If you’d like support sense-checking your current approach, or building a clear, evidence-based view of how wellbeing is managed across the employee lifecycle, a structured wellbeing audit can help provide that clarity.

It offers an objective baseline, highlights priority gaps, and supports informed decisions about where to focus next. If that would be useful, please email [email protected] or call 0808 168 5874 and we can talk it through.