May 13th is the day my Mum was born but it is also the day in 1960 when the first Formula One race took place. It was all about speed and excitement, thrills and spills. There were many accidents and little consideration for driver safety with no helmets, no medical back-up or safety measures.  

From the early 60′s when the sport became really popular, safety started to be a feature. Engine sizes were reduced, flag signals came in and drivers had to wear helmets. Since then, there has been a steady progression towards safer cars, safer tracks and safer procedures. Millions of fans worldwide remain passionate about their driver heros and constructors.  I always thought Graham Hill was very debonair! 

So F1 is still one of the most dangerous sports in the world but we rarely see deaths or life threatening injuries such as the accident in which Nikki Lauda nearly lost his life, despite seeing spectacular crashes that drivers often now walk away from. Could this be because of the implementation of the much quoted phrase, as far as is reasonably practicable, a key phrase in modern Healthy and Safety? 

Michael Schumacher tests a new helmet and the new Mercedes F1 car

The obvious risks in the sport are avoided or reduced through the use of the hierachy of control! Technological advances have increased car safety, tyre safety and personal protective equipment. Cars are set up for specific drivers. Track safety is increased with better surfaces, crash barriers, marshals, medical backup and safety cars. There are rules and regulations and safe systems of work and above all, everyone is highly trained and competent to do their jobs. Some people argue that the excitement has been taken out of the sport because of all this but for me, it is still there and the drivers get to go home! 

So this most exciting of sports hasn’t been banned because no one was willing to work out how to do it safely. It is possible to keep that sence of danger that we all enjoy watching. Ok they have a lot of money to spend on ensuring safety is paramount but they thought it was worth spending it! It would be great if more people took that approach instead of acting like the fun police! As my MD says, ‘You can do anything you like as long as you do it safely’ 

Sian MacGowan PhD, MIIRSM 

Business Development Director

 hiring H&S consultants, or both?

Take poll:

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Peter Hodgson DipSM DipEM MIIRSM AIEMA
Managing Director

www.sureteam.co.uk 

H&S really is about nothing more than making sure people are safe at work. It puts systems and processes around assessing and managing risk – something we do every day when we drive, cook a meal, cross the road or loads of other activities.

For example, if you run a machine shop then obviously you want to minimise risk by making sure staff are trained, the equipment is kept safe and working properly, and any injuries that do happen are dealt with and reviewed to make sure they don’t happen again. All this is the job of the H&S policy and the procedures you put in place, but unfortunately people don’t often see it like that.

The other day I was running a workshop for a client in the health sector and to be honest I think many were wondering what H&S had to do with them. As we talked about risks and the mechanics of managing them you could see lightbulbs going on – suddenly the incident and accident reports stopped being about “extra work”, and started being about how you keep a workplace safe.

The trick to getting on top of your H&S is about having sensible policies that everyone buys into. A competent advisor can do this with a minimum of fuss – and potentially save you a huge headache in the long run. We shouldn’t allow the media to colour our views – we should find out for ourselves!

Sian MacGowan

To help people who are new to the area, this blog aims to give you  a quick overview of what one actually looks like! A  H&S policy is the document that tells the world how you’re going to manage your health and safety. It doesn’t have to be long, but it should contain the following:

• Your ‘statement of intent’ – in which you say what you’re going to do and how you are going to do it (shouldn’t really be more than one side of A4!)
• It says who is responsible for what and where the budget will come from  – every business has a budget for the important stuff and  health and safety is important - it needn’t cost an arm and a leg  but it should be sufficient for your type of business.
• It says what will happen in different scenarios – eg first aid, fire, driving, lone working, risk assessments, accident reporting and so on

That’s essentially what is in a policy but attached to the H&S policy (and made available to all staff) are the nuts and bolts of health and safety such as risk assessments – these are key documants that identify what the significant hazards are in our businesses and how we control them – such as working with computers, dealing with chemicals, lone working, working at height.

A H&S policy is a dynamic document which needs to be kept updated (at least once a year) to reflect any changes in the business and how it operates. The key to success with your policy is – KIS your health and safety policy!  – Keep it simple and  understandable – so that everyone buys in to it.

If you need any advice on writing a policy please get in touch.

Sian MacGowan

Ensure all people are safe and if necessary, emergency services called. Then it’s the boring bit.

• If you have not already reported the accident you need to do so. (Internally reported as per your own procedures and in the case of the Regulation; Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). Don’t forget, in the case of major injuries (and death) the accident must be reported by telephone immediately and then followed up in writing within 10 days. See RIDDOR website.
• Next, you need to invest a couple of hours getting some good understanding of what has occurred. This doesn’t mean downloading information from the internet. While there is no shortage of information about what’s required, you need someone who can interpret it and tell you what this means for you. This can be internal or external depending on the company’s situation. You are really trying to avoid a reoccurrence and keep all concerned safe.
• You need to develop a response and implement it. Depending on your situation, you may be capable of doing this yourself or delegating it to a staff member. Or you may need to get an external person to run it for you.
  When something goes wrong in a workplace the repercussions can be ongoing ; as well as the immediate problem that needs to be resolved, you also need to be mindful that other staff may be distressed and will be judging you as an employer based on your response.

So with your business’ reputation demanding that you respond quickly and appropriately, the logical thing to do is to take advice from someone who’s an expert in the area who also has a firm grasp of where you’re coming from as a business person and an employer.

So in a nutshell:-

1. Ensure all safe
2. If it’s reportable, do it
3. Put in short term measures to start work again
4. Review risk assessment
5. Review long term or medium term controls
6. Accidents are an unplanned, uncontrolled event, so do we try and plan and control our workplace; well we have a duty to do just that.

Be safe

Peter Hodgson

This amount, would be sufficient to hire in competent experts to do a basic job properly – with written policies tailored to the business and procedures that will help not hinder when put into practice, and follow up calls to iron out any issues and get things running well. Of course, you could reduce this figure by doing more work yourself, however this can be time consuming. Ultimately it might be more profitable to devote that time to another aspect of your business.

At Sureteam we’ve helped lots of small businesses get their H&S sorted and we’re always happy to talk to people about their needs and you can count on us for a straight answer.

While you may find other providers are willing to a quote for less money than I’ve talked about, it’s important to remember that H&S is a deregulated industry so you need to be clear about what you’re getting (see Sian MacGowan’s post of selecting a H&S advisor).

Just like tax or legal matters, H&S is a fundamental aspect of doing business in the UK today. While outside help isn’t mandatory, involving experts early and investing in simple systems that actually work for your business can make all the difference in the long term.

To help people make an informed choice, we have developed short checklist we’d recommend you ask any prospective provider. You will be able to make your own mind up based on their answers:

1. What formal training do you have in H&S?
2. How long have you been in the industry?
3. Do you provide me with a standard solution, or something that’s developed specifically for my business?
4. What experience do you have working with businesses like mine?
5. Can I speak to some of your other clients?

As with all investments, if something sounds too good to be true it probably is. While many providers seem competitively priced, it’s important to understand whether you are getting a generic “box-ticking” approach, or a customised policy that will actually work for you.

At Sureteam we are all qualified in H&S at ‘Competent Advisor’ Level 4 or above which means that we have undergone accredited training (and passed the exams!). What’s more, because we’ve held senior management roles before joining Sureteam, you can be sure that, not only do we know what we’re talking about, we’ll give you advice and policies that work from an organisational perspective.

Although many of us have been blogging personally for quite some time, this blog will act as a great hub for Health and Safety news, advice and up and coming changes to regulations.

By all means please send us feedback on the site and our blogs – we’re looking forward to connecting with you here.