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WorksheetC170 minsNew. New: checked automatically for level, grammar, facts and originality; a teacher's review is still to come. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Fit for Work: a health and safety improvement plan
Students analyse a supermarket chain's absence and accident figures, then plan and present a health and safety improvement plan to the board.
Business · Health and safety · Absenteeism · Data · Case study · Presentations
Goes with:Fit for Work: health, safety and absence at work (lesson plan)
This worksheet and its PDFs are free.
Study Frescora's figures and charts. Then, work through the tasks in groups and present your improvement plan to the board.
The situation. You work for Frescora Supermercados, a supermarket chain with 240 shops and 10,600 employees across Spain. Absenteeism and accidents at work have risen, and the board has asked the health and safety team for an improvement plan. Study the figures, then prepare and present the plan.
Frescora and all its figures are invented for this lesson. They are in line with Spain's services sector, where absenteeism was about 7% in 2024.
Frescora in figures, 2021–2025
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employees | 9,800 | 10,050 | 10,200 | 10,400 | 10,600 |
| Available workdays | 2,156,000 | 2,211,000 | 2,244,000 | 2,288,000 | 2,332,000 |
| Days absent (all reasons) | 129,360 | 152,559 | 148,104 | 157,872 | 172,568 |
| Absenteeism rate | 6.0% | 6.9% | 6.6% | 6.9% | 7.4% |
| Accidents with time off work | 412 | 438 | 401 | 455 | 489 |
| Days lost after accidents | 8,650 | 9,420 | 8,310 | 9,870 | 11,240 |
| Near misses reported | 210 | 262 | 341 | 315 | 288 |
Absenteeism rate (%) = ( total absent days ÷ total available workdays ) × 100
20242025
20242025
20242025
How to read the charts
Grey bars show 2024 and coloured bars show 2025.
A near miss is an event that could have caused an injury but didn't, for example a box that falls next to someone. Companies count them because reporting them helps to prevent real accidents.
1 Key words
Match the words (1–8) with the meanings (a–h).
1. absenteeisma) clothing and items such as gloves that keep workers safe
2. sick leaveb) lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling things by hand
3. a near missc) time that employees are away from work when they should be there
4. manual handlingd) a result you plan to achieve by a certain date
5. a risk assessmente) an event that almost caused an injury
6. the root causef) the main reason why a problem happens
7. protective equipmentg) time off work because you are ill
8. a targeth) a check of what could go wrong and how likely it is
2 Describe the trends
Complete the sentences with the words in the box.
held steady · reached a five-year high · edged down · peaked · dipped slightly before recovering · saw a marked increase
- a) The number of near misses reported ______ in 2023 and has fallen since then.
- b) Accidents with trolleys and pallet trucks ______ at 42 in 2024 and 2025.
- c) Cuts from knives and boxes ______, from 74 to 70.
- d) In 2025, the absenteeism rate ______ of 7.4%.
- e) Days lost after accidents ______ in 2025, of more than 1,300 days.
- f) The absenteeism rate ______: it fell to 6.6% in 2023, then rose to 6.9% in 2024.
3 Find the problems
Work in small groups. Discuss the questions.
- a) Which three figures worry you most? Why?
- b) What might be the root causes? Think about the shops, the warehouses, the timetable and the staff.
- c) Why could fewer reported near misses be bad news, not good news?
- d) Which problems could the company solve quickly and cheaply, and which would take longer?
- e) Some figures go up and down together. Does that mean one causes the other? For example, does more stress cause more accidents, or do more accidents cause more stress?
4 Write the improvement plan
Choose three problems. Then, complete the plan with an action, who is responsible, a deadline and a measurable target for each one.
| Problem | Action | Responsible | Deadline | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back injuries from lifting | Train all shop staff in safe lifting; buy lighter delivery crates | Health and safety manager | June 2026 | Cut lifting accidents by 20% in 2026 |
5 Present your plan
Present your plan to the board (the rest of the class) in three minutes. Use the language in the box. Then, the board asks questions and chooses the best plan.
- Introducing the problem
- Our figures show that… · The main concern is… · As you can see in chart B,…
- Interpreting the data
- This may suggest that… · It appears that… · One possible explanation is… · We can't be certain, but…
- Proposing actions
- We propose… · We recommend that the company… · The first step would be to…
- Targets and deadlines
- By the end of June, we aim to… · This should reduce … by 20%.
- Answering questions
- That's a good point. · We'd need to check the costs, but… · In the short term,…
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