The two sides of the industrial divide have joined forces in a bid to cut the number of injuries in the workplace.

The TUC and CBI said on Monday that if more companies and unions adopted a partnership approach to health and safety then up to 20,000 major workplace injuries a year could be prevented, and a third of a million days sickness absence avoided.

At a joint safety conference in London the TUC will announce plans to double the number of health and safety partnership agreements every year. It hopes to achieve 40 "partners in prevention" agreements by the end of next year.

TUC General Secretary John Monks said: "Tragedies on the railways and in construction show that where partnerships don't exist, it is vital that we introduce them. Partnership is about revitalising health and safety - breathing life into the relationship between employers and workers, and the case studies we are highlighting today demonstrate that everybody benefits. Partnerships mean fewer injuries, fewer illnesses and fewer days off work."

The minister for competitiveness, Alan Johnson, gave the government's backing to the initiative. "We recognises the importance of partnership and we have placed it at the heart of our employment relations strategy. Employers and employees working together, in partnership, to develop health and safety policy within the workplace is an ideal way to achieve better standards and promote best practice."