MANAGEMENT SERIES
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
MANAGING RISK
In an easy step-by-step guide, Right Directions’ Gill Twell explains how a bottom-up approach to risk management is the best way to ensure staff are working safely
O
ver the years, we’ve seen fantastic health and safety manuals that define an organisation’s health
and safety standards and processes. These manuals sit on a shelf (or on a computer) in an office within the facility, but when the site is audited we find unsafe practices being carried out on a daily basis. The question we are often asked is: Why are staff not following the defined standards? By adopting a bottom-up approach
to the management of health and safety, organisations can build a strong safety culture and ensure the standards and processes defi ned at the top are being cascaded down into the workforce – and with it, help protect
their business and the safety of their staff, customers and other visitors.
STEP 1 Walk the walk Walk around your facility on a regular basis – maybe weekly to start with, depending on what you find. Look at customer-facing areas as well as staff and maintenance areas, including plant rooms, store rooms and cleaning cupboards – anywhere that may be high risk, or where staff carry out duties. You need to assess the real state of
your day-to-day operations, including housekeeping in store rooms and plant rooms, watching your lifeguards in action, studying your staff setting up equipment… Is what they’re doing safe, are they following procedures,
are they trained and qualifi ed for the tasks they are carrying out? Look at the daily internal monitoring
records that should be completed, such as pool water testing, daily opening and closing checks, equipment checks… Have they been completed fully, correctly and at the appropriate time? If everything is running as it should be,
you could move to a monthly walkabout. If not, continue with frequent checks. As a general manager, I used to walk
around my sites with the duty managers every three weeks while they wrote down any actions we highlighted. These actions became their responsibility and they reported back to me weekly on progress, until the tasks were complete. It’s fi ne for the duty manager to
devolve tasks to other members of staff though: giving everyone accountability for risk management and health and safety on a day-to-day basis helps create ownership of tasks, will make staff more aware of their environment, and assists in creating a strong safety culture among all the staff from top to bottom. But remember, if the staff see the duty manager putting equipment away safely, lifeguarding a pool correctly or handling chemicals in a safe manner, they are far more likely to follow by example. Ensure any issues you identify are
actioned: add them to a risk reduction plan, identify a member of staff to complete the task, set a target date for completion and sign off the plan accordingly. Ensure a process is in place to monitor progress. Noting down problems will also act as a checklist to help prevent staff from falling back into old, unsafe habits.
STEP 2 Danger zone
There are numerous acts, regulations and codes of practice setting out the requirements you should follow for the management of health and safety for all aspects of your business. A key
Assess the real state of day- to-day operations, including watching lifeguards in action
76 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital October 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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