Health and Safety

Accidents at work and occupational ill-health are costly to workers and their families and to employers. Management control of health and safety is therefore essential, particularly in smaller firms where fatal and major injury rates tend to be higher. Losses from a major incident could ruin a company. Directors and managers can be held personally responsible for failures to control health and safety.

Employers need to know and understand the work involved, the principles of risk assessment and prevention, and current legislation and health and safety standards.

An employer is not able to pass liability onto employees or persons appointed to give competent advice, where there has been a contravention of health and safety.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR) require every employer to have arrangements in place to cover health and safety.

A successful health and safety management system will include the elements of planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review.

The manner and extent of a health and safety management system will vary with the size of the enterprise, the nature of its activities, the hazards and the conditions in which it operates. Successful organisations develop systems that are relevant/ appropriate, cost effective, aim to reduce financial losses and to protect and enhance both physical and human resources. The following step-by-step approach is tried and tested. It has strong similarities to systems for total quality management used by many successful companies. It can help you protect people and control loss.