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ARE YOU KEEPING YOUR STAFF SAFE?


Make sure you are compliant with the latest health and safety legislation


T


he health and safety landscape has been in a constant state of flux. And this can be challenging for businesses, particularly smaller ones,


to keep on top of all their obligations. To date, businesses and health and safety


professionals have collectively groaned at changes, seeing them as additional burdens. To make maters worse, according to Mathew Holder of the British Safety Council, “new legislation has been known to overlap with previous incarnations, leaving complications. And application of the law hasn’t always been appropriate to the industry either, with rules developed with high-hazard industries in mind, such as chemical manufacturers, being applied to low-risk businesses, such as those which are office based.” Te good news is that following two


influential reports – Common Sense, Common Safety by Lord Young and Te Löfstedt review – the Health and Safety Executive is currently working on making the rules much simpler, and applied based on the actual level of risk in a business, rather than pursuing a one-size-fits-all approach. In the meantime, check out


some of the things businesses need to know and need to do now...


Get access to an expert


Your company will need a “competent person”, who knows what needs to be done to uphold health and safety for staff. For big companies,


this may be someone in house, or even for smaller companies it could be someone that has taken this on as part of another primary role in the business. For small companies, however, their favoured option may be to engage the services of an external consultant. Steve Ashton, head of health and safety


services at Law at Work advised: “When selecting a consultant, you would want to make sure they are members of the appropriate professional body. So, for a generalist health and safety consultant, you would expect them to be a member of the Institute of Occupational Health and Safety or the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management. Tere are more specialist bodies for more specialist experts. For example, if you want to address a fire safety issue, the person will likely be a member of the Institute of Fire Engineers.”


You need to report it


All companies, not just those in higher-risk manufacturing industries, need to report relevant health and safety incidents. Even office-based businesses need to have an accident book for reporting accidents and near misses, even if it is likely to get dusty on the shelf. Te good news is


that changes to RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous


Occurrences Regulations) now Consider vulnerable groups


You should pay closer atention to vulnerable groups in your workforce – where perhaps risks are amplified, compared with other staff. Mathew said: “Women who are pregnant are one obvious group, for example, where handling certain chemicals could have an impact on their developing child. Younger and older workers are another two. One group which is perhaps not quite as obvious is new staff.” According to the Health and Safety


Executive, workers are as likely to have an


means companies must report an incident that results in a member of staff being off work or unfit for duty for seven days or more rather than three days previously. “Companies still need to keep a record of incidents that fall below the seven days, but those don’t need to be reported to the Health and Safety Executive,” Steve explained.


Involve your workers


Health and safety rules don’t spell out specific risks. Tey instead rely on each industry and company to define the risks for themselves in their specific circumstances. And


who best to help figure out what those risks are than the people who face them – the staff.


“Companies should involve their workers.


Tey are the people who will know best the risks in their workplace and how to reduce it. Tere should be some form of consultation procedure in place,” said Mathew.


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