No words can express how much I care about your safety and wellbeing," wrote Elon Musk in an email last year to his employees at Tesla, his electric automotive company.

"It breaks my heart when someone is injured building cars and trying their best to make Tesla successful. Going forward, I’ve asked that every injury be reported directly to me, without exception.”

He was prompted to send the email because over the past four years, Tesla has faced several claims that the rate of workplace injury in its factories was higher than the industry average.

Safety and wellness should be at the top of the list of every executive and head of human resources when it comes to talent attraction, care and retention.

Tesla is far from being the only company that struggles with workplace injuries, an issue which is both global and cross-sector. The automotive sector is not even among the most dangerous of industries. Construction, agriculture (which represents 50 per cent for the global labour force) and mining top the list when it comes to the combination of work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses.

In his typical action-orientated style, Mr Musk therefore decided to address the issue and get involved personally to improve the safety of his employees. Yet despite notable efforts to improve workplace safety at Tesla, a recent incident in its Fremont factory triggered more scrutiny and led to a fine by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health – a fine that the company is appealing.

The day the news broke, the value of the company dropped 2 per cent on the market. Although somewhat unfair, given that every company faces potential workplace accidents, Tesla’s woes at least raise the question of occupational safety and health, an issue constituting a massive global health and economic burden.

In September last year, during the XXI World Congress on Safety and Health at Work held in Singapore, the International Labour Organisation and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work revealed that the estimated cost of injuries and illnesses in the workplace tops $3 trillion annually. In the European Union, accidents and injuries in the workplace alone cost more than $567 billion each year.

Given the scale of the problem, it is no surprise to see safety in the workplace mentioned in three of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal eight leaves no doubt about what needs to be achieved about a problem that exists in every country, irrespective of its level of industrialisation.

Physical and mental fatigue account for a lot of accidents and injuries that happen at work.