Governments around the world are introducing more regulation to male our lives safer, but strong demand for a safer world is also coming from consumers. All this is stimulating the growth of safety related goods & services.
The Challenge
Safety - or rather the lack of it - continues to be a major social and economic issue around the world.
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Globally, over 2.2 million people die every year from work-related accidents and diseases and a further 270 million people suffer non-fatal, work-related accidents.1
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In the European Union (EU), over 5,500 deaths are caused every year in the work-place and almost 500 million working days are lost each year because of accidents or health problems.2
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Road accidents alone are the main cause of death for people under 45 years of age, and 300 people are killed every day in China from road traffic accidents.3
Markets & Drivers
As well as representing the overwhelming social and personal tragedy associated with poor safety, these statistics also demonstrate significant economic costs that are becoming a major drag on business and wider economic performance. In order to reduce these social and economic costs, regulators around the world continue to tighten legislation, forcing businesses to adopt more progressive approaches to minimising accidents at work. In the US in particular, escalating costs of injuries from rising medical costs and insurance as well as large jury awards against negligent employers are also impacting earnings.
In parallel, heightened consumer and public anxieties about product safety, in part driven by concerns about chemicals in products and high-profile stories of contaminated products such as pet food and toys, has reinforced companies’ commitment to extensive product testing and certification.
The combined effect of these trends is to underline the importance of health and safety for governments and businesses around the world, which in turn are investing in safety management to better address these issues.
Investment Opportunities
The Safety theme focuses on companies whose products and services prevent and minimise safety incidents in the workplace, at home and in the community. This includes companies in the following sub-themes:
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Occupational safety - reducing risks of exposure to harmful substances or dangerous processes in the workplace.
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Product safety - improving the safety of consumer products through better testing and controls.
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Residential & commerical safety - making homes and businesses safer and more secure.
Examples of companies within the Safety theme are...
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Autoliv [Sweden] develops and makes car safety systems such as seat belts, air bags and leg protection equipment
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[USA] develops and manufactures products to increase safety of night-time driving
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Intertek [UK] is a product and process quality and quality inspection and testing company
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Secom [Japan] provides a wide range of security related products and services to protect individuals and property
Footnotes
[1] ILO, April 2008
[2] European Agency for Safety & Health at Work, 2002
[3] China Daily, 'Road accidents kill 300 a day in China', 12 April 2008