Poor safety costs money. Prevention of accidents and ill health is entirely cost effective. Having all your key employees at work every day doing what you pay them to do is surely good for business. With effective health and safety management in place they will not be out of work because of serious injuries or work related illnesses. Reducing accidents means reducing claims, costs and ultimately lowering Employer's Liability insurance premiums.

High productivity and excellent safety are not mutually exclusive. They can and do work hand in hand enabling businesses to develop a safe and profitable place of work.

In order for an effective health and safety programme to be implemented top management must give their commitment to it and must provide leadership, resources and backing for the programme which will ideally involve everyone in the enterprise.

Management who establish and control the workplace (are the risk creators) and employees who work there (are the risk takers). The opportunity to create a safe place of work, to set the scene, the safety standards and the codes of conduct etc. for health and safety to thrive within their business rests solely with management. Management get the kind of safe behaviour they ask for!

Health and safety must be planned for in every aspect of the business including the purchase of new/second-hand machinery etc., introduction of new technology or chemicals, re-siting of equipment, output required from employees and in all day-to-day operations etc.

Identification of hazards, their elimination or control is the key to reducing risks.

A hazard is something that can cause harm - e.g. machinery with moving parts, dangerous chemicals, forklift trucks, excessive working hours leading to work related stress etc.

Hazard management: This is the correct approach to consider in correct descending order:

1. Elimination
2. Substitution
3. Segregation
4. Enclosure
5. Guarding
6. Limit Time Exposed
7. Limit Persons Exposed
8. Inform, instruct, train and supervise
9. Provide personal protective equipment (p.p.e.) - last resort approach

A risk is how likely it is for a hazard to cause harm - e.g. a machine that is properly guarded will not injure someone, a fork-lift that is driven by a trained operator will not kill someone, noise that is contained cannot cause deafness etc.

Risk cannot be eliminated totally. The building that is totally safe is one that is empty of people and equipment and is locked shut. The key to successful safety management is to know what the hazards and risks are, eliminate or control them, consult with employees, provide training and monitor changes regularly.

Employee involvement through Safety Committees and/or elected Safety Representatives is essential for the process to work. Even where employees decide not to elect a Safety Representative the Employer is still obliged to consult with all employees on issues of health and safety.

Open, honest, practical consultation systems need to be developed to obtain the views of employees, to take into account their concerns and inform them of changes and technological developments in good time. Their involvement is critical. Safety is an "open book" topic.

Relevant, competent training to enable employees to do the job safely must be provided for all and recorded. Refresher training will be required every two years.

Workable, logical procedures, which underpin health and safety, need to be developed, communicated and re-enforced. Management re-enforcement has to be fair and consistent. Management must lead by example by being excellent role models.

Incidents, accidents and ill health cases must be recorded, investigated and action taken to prevent them happening again by the Supervisor or Manager of the area where the problem arose. Every incident, accident and ill health case, while regrettable in themselves, represents a learning opportunity for all.

When management performance is measured safety should be a key factor. Supervisors and Managers need to realise that the primary responsibility for health and safety in their departments rests with them. When things go wrong they should be held accountable.

There needs to be a partnership approach between management, employees and trade unions on issues of health and safety. Putting together teams of managers, supervisors and employees to tackle issues on the ground will achieve results providing the "them and us" scenario is eliminated.

Sometimes the solutions to health and safety problems lie in the heads of employees who are closest to the job. Management need to tap into their expertise and experience to solve on-going problems.

Every business needs to develop a safety culture with the key message that "safety is everybody's business".

ACCIDENTS COULD BE COSTING YOU MORE THAN YOU THINK !

Poor safety - COSTS … Managing safety - SAVES

Yes, you have insurance but does it cover :

• Sick pay?
• Fines?
• Repairs to plant and equipment?
• Overtime working and replacement workers?
• Production delays or lost orders?
• Investigation time?