According to new data from Astutis , a growing number UK employees fund their own training in health and safety from their own pocket.
According to the report, 1/10 employees paid for their own training. This raises serious concerns regarding underinvestment in industries like construction, logistics, and manufacturing.
According to the report, which surveyed over 920 workers in the UK, nearly a third of workers (31%) said that their employer’s training budget wasn’t adequate for their job or level of risk.
The majority of Brits (50%) say they don’t have time to attend health and safety training at work. This shows that the issue is not a priority.
One of the Report’s biggest findings was that more than half of employees (51%) said that colleagues behaviour is what makes a workplace safer, and not rules or a lack of knowledge.
This indicates that employers should be aware of culture issues and compliance. They also need to invest in team-wide behavioral change and accountability.
Steve Terry comments on the findings of Astutis’ Managing Director:
When workers reach for their wallets to pay for vital training, that’s a warning sign. Not only are we talking about professional growth, but also about knowledge that could save lives being treated as a choice rather than a necessity.
For businesses, however, the costs of an injury, regulatory fine or accident outweigh the time required to train their team.
Spending a few extra hours with someone to train them could save their lives at work.
The government released statistics last month on workplace fatalities and safety. The report showed that there were 124 workplace deaths between March 2024-2025.
The leading cause of workplace fatalities was a fall (35), and the industries most likely to be affected were construction (35), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (23).
In addition, 33.7m work-related days were lost during this time period. This represents a significant cost for both employers and the government.
For more information on the Astutis Learners Report, download the whitepaper here: https://www.astutis.com/astutis-hub/news/learner-report-2025
One in ten employees must pay for their own health and safety training – is this what employers are doing? originally appeared on Human Resources News.
