Navigating the Future of Health & Safety: Key Insights from RS Group’s 2025 EHS Report

At Temple QMS, we believe that continual improvement in environmental, health, and safety (EHS) performance is vital for creating safer, more sustainable workplaces.

That’s why we’re taking a closer look at RS Group’s latest industry report, Improving the Standard 2025, which offers a timely snapshot of the evolving health and safety landscape across the UK and Ireland.

Drawing on responses from 545 professionals working in EHS roles across a wide range of sectors – including manufacturing, energy, logistics, retail, and public services – the report reveals both progress and persisting challenges in how organisations are managing health, safety, and wellbeing in today’s complex operating environment.

A Challenging Outlook for EHS Confidence

One of the most striking findings is a noticeable dip in confidence levels among EHS professionals. Belief in the ability of teams to keep staff safe and perform their roles effectively has fallen to its lowest point in three years. Despite this, confidence in protecting end-users remains relatively strong, with 88% of respondents maintaining faith in their organisation’s ability to safeguard people – only a slight drop from 89% last year.

Confidence in selecting appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and preventing physical harm also saw a decline, with only 75% expressing assurance in these areas, compared to over 80% last year.

Mental Health: Still Falling Short

While mental wellbeing has become an increasingly prominent issue, the data shows it’s not being matched by action. Confidence in mental health provision has slipped to 53%, and only 73% of organisations reported having a mental health support strategy in place – both slightly down on the previous year’s figures. These figures suggest mental health is still playing catch-up compared to physical safety, something we pointed out in our Mental Health Temple Talks podcast.

The Maturity Gap in PPE Management

Interestingly, almost half of PPE users (48%) rated their organisation’s PPE maturity as ‘high’, whereas only 38% of EHS professionals shared this view. In fact, the number of professionals describing their PPE management maturity as ‘low’ rose from 7% to 11%. This gap underscores the need for better alignment between perception and operational reality.

Strategy Priorities & Compliance Measures

Accident prevention remains the top strategic priority (37%), followed by investment in systems (22%, up from 17%) and cultural change (13%, down from 16%). However, some key performance indicators (KPIs) are trending in the wrong direction. The proportion of organisations tracking near-miss incidents has dropped from 67% to 61%, suggesting an area for urgent review.

When it comes to compliance, training and development (69%) and workplace culture (65%) are viewed as the most impactful drivers. However, skill gaps within EHS teams are a growing concern, cited as a risk to compliance by over half of respondents – a figure that has been rising year-on-year.

Staff retention was also flagged as a crucial factor for improving compliance in the coming year, with 28% seeing it as a key lever, up from just 15% two years ago.

The Sustainability Dilemma

While sustainability continues to rank highly on the corporate agenda, cost pressures appear to be dampening enthusiasm. Only 60% of EHS professionals said they were willing to pay more for sustainable PPE this year – a steep fall from 78% in 2024.

That said, as Greg Sharp from RS points out, a higher upfront investment in quality PPE can lead to long-term cost savings, particularly when durability and lifecycle value are considered.

Gender Inclusivity in PPE: More Work Needed

The report also shines a light on gender-specific PPE issues. Despite increasing awareness, just 1% of respondents highlighted women-specific PPE as a major purchasing factor. Encouragingly though, over half reported improvements in both product range (54%) and suitability (49%) for women over the past year. Still, with 85% saying more needs to be done to ensure PPE is properly designed for women, it’s clear this remains a priority area for development.

A supplementary survey of 196 PPE users revealed that 11% had felt unsafe due to poorly fitting PPE, and nearly a third (30%) reported feeling uncomfortable. Alarmingly, 13% said they had to modify their PPE to make it wearable.

Final Reflections from Industry Leaders

Raj Patel, Managing Director of RS in the UK & Ireland, summarised the broader picture:

“EHS professionals are contending with more uncertainty than ever. While strides have been made, particularly around physical safety, mental health and skills development need urgent attention.”

At Temple QMS, we echo these sentiments. The findings of RS’s 2025 report reinforce the need for organisations to think holistically about EHS – balancing safety, sustainability, and wellbeing, while investing in training and upskilling to stay ahead of future risks.

To explore the full findings or download the infographic, visit the RS Health & Safety 2025 report page.