Companies with managers who are poorly trained in health and safety have eight times more accidents at work, according to new research.
Experts at Glasgow Caledonian University collected data from more than 100 building contractors.
They found that health and safety managers who vetted sub-contractors had an accident rate at work of more than 60% less than those who did not.
Calls have been made for the regulation of UK-wide standards of competence.
The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), Europe's biggest body of health and safety professionals, which commissioned the research, called for action to ensure properly qualified safety professionals are in place.
Ray Hurst, IOSH president elect, said: "These latest results show that health and safety is good for people and it's good for business.
"Skimping on safety has a very negative human impact indeed.
"This research provides lessons for all and demonstrates that organisations with more qualified health and safety personnel have lower accident rates."
Accidents at work - such as falls from ladders, burns and exposure to asbestos - left more than 200 people dead and a further 300,000 seriously injured across Great Britain last year.
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