HR FOCUS


Health and safety is a vital part of any facility. Not only does it protect your workers and employees from accidents, but it also provides solid expectations of a workplace environment. Practices are there to make staff feel safe and should be updated in due course to reflect change.


Going back to basics should often be your first port of call when analysing business foundations. Review your current health and safety plans and remind yourself of key points before re-writing any official documents. Now is a good time to look for areas where your processes need updating, perhaps due to a new office layout or if you’ve recently welcomed new additions to the company.


Partnering with the right consultants makes a real difference between fully working practices and miscommunication. Your health and safety consultancy should look to provide regular updates due to changes in legislation that may impact your business. This will benefit you long term, allowing you to run your company day-to-day with the sound knowledge that you’ll be warned early and guided through.


One of the core aims of adequate health and safety in the workplace is to reduce stress and maintain a positive working environment. The welfare of your employees comes first and foremost in this process.


Part of reinforcing a secure work culture is about listening to your employees concerns and feedback. Performance appraisals provide a great stance for starting a conversation; allowing management to ask questions that will benefit business growth whilst making staff members feel valued for their opinion.


Your specialist consultancy can help you to draw up a performance appraisal plan, ready to use for reference. Questions such as ‘what changes could we make to ensure your working environment is more positive?’ can be put forward.


Every Cloud Management suggests a rating system be applied, allowing your staff to give feedback on aspects


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of the workplace that they feel could be developed in the future. This provides you with a positive stepping stone that will help your management team to review the positives and negatives of your current practices.


Another benefit of implementing this process is that any issues discovered can be tackled in good time, without becoming too much of a hindrance to employee satisfaction or efficiency. It could also be prudent to create an anonymous mail system for staff to voice concerns or recommendations for office improvements.


It’s not difficult to get caught up in the day-to-day of running a business. Sometimes it can be a challenge to see for yourself where practices may be lacking, in which case your best bet is to hire an audit. An outside eye looking in is more likely to spot and offer constructive improvements.


Before instructing on an audit, discuss with your consultant your main aims and specific concerns; for example, if a recent health and safety incident led you to prioritise a change in your processes. Background knowledge prior to an audit can help you get the results you need and again, to put your staff first.


An audit would work particularly well for companies with multiple departments using different equipment, or where new recruits are joining and would need updated training programmes on arrival.


Look at the scope of employee motivation, environment improvements and written procedures to see which areas you can progress first. Then communicate with your consultants and create a viable health and safety plan. This should include what you plan to do, how and when you plan to do it and a review date in the calendar to revisit. This way, improvements can be made in a timely fashion.


Creation of a new or revised employee handbook is a favourable reinforcement; reminding your staff about work expectations can only be a step forward. On top of this, office improvements in light of appraisals will only help towards staff retention. For example, desk arrangements,


chairs and monitor heights are small factors and often overlooked, but can make a massive difference.


Such attention to detail will also impress any clients that may enter your office space, or if you’re not client facing, it will make a great first impression for prospective employees visiting for interviews. Even today, word of mouth and how you're perceived by visitors is a strong branding exercise that’s important to manage.


Take a look around the office now and ask yourself, who’s new? Who’s been here for quite a while? Do these people need health and safety training? The answer should be a resounding yes. Health and safety shouldn’t lack in any area.


Your consultancy should be able to provide training, which can be tailored to your workplace requirements. Firstly, they’ll assess the needs of your employees – for example, different departments may need different training. Then, they will look to recommend a suitable programme. This can even be on a bespoke and individual basis depending on your staff member’s capabilities.


You may find once you start to provide equal training opportunities, your staff will notice and feel valued. This may result in you as a business owner, getting positive feedback, which is very encouraging as you grow to meet and surpass your personal business targets. Something that seems as trivial as a health and safety guidance day can earn you respect with your peers, which is invaluable in the long term.


Training can also be looked at as a team building exercise. Consider pairing staff members who don’t usually interact to build on existing relationships and a friendly office atmosphere.


Whether you feel you can answer “are your health and safety practises lacking?” with a solid yes or no, it’s vital that you review and update your processes on a regular basis. This will improve the environment and experience for you and your staff and have huge benefits in both the short and long term.


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