Managing health and safety:health survey-2

Step 1 :Set your policy

             The events that cause injuries and illness can also lead to property damage and interrupt production so you must aim to control all accidental loss.

Identifying hazards and assessing risks,* deciding what precautions are needed, putting them in place and checking they are used, protects people, develops quality, and safeguards plant and production.

Your health and safety policy should influence all your activities, including the selection of people, equipment and materials, the way work is done and how you design and provide goods and services. A written statement of your policy and the organization and arrangements for implementing and monitoring it shows your staff, and anyone else, that hazards have been identified and risks assessed,eliminated or controlled.

*A hazard is something with potential to cause harm. The harm will vary in severity, some hazards may cause death, some serious illness or disability. Risk is the combination of the severity of harm with the likelihood of it happening.

Ask yourself:

1 Do you have a clear policy for health and safety; is it written down?

2 What did you achieve in health and safety last year?

3 How much are you spending on health and safety and are you getting value for money?
4 How much money are you losing by not managing health and safety?
5 Does your policy prevent injuries, reduce losses and really affect the way you work?

Be honest!

Step 2: Organise your staff

For making your health and safety policy effective you need to get your staff involved and committed. This is often referred to as a 'positive health and safety culture'.

The four 'Cs' of positive health and safety culture

1 Competence: recruitment, training and advisory support.

2 Control: allocating responsibilities, securing commitment, instruction and supervision. 

3 Cooperation: between individuals and groups.
4 Communication: spoken, written and visible.

Competence:

■Assess the skills needed to execute all tasks safely.

■Provide the ways to ensure that all employees, including your managers, supervisors and temporary staff, are adequately instructed and trained.

■Ensure that people doing especially dangerous work have the necessary training, experience and other qualities to carry out the work safely.

■Arrange for access to sound advice and help.

■Carry out restructuring or reorganisation to ensure the competence of those taking on new health and safety responsibilities.

Control:

■ Lead by example: demonstrate your commitment and provide clear direction let everyone know health and safety is important.

■Identify people responsible for particular health and safety jobs especially where special expertise is called for, eg (doing risk assessments, driving forklift trucks.)

■Ensure that managers, supervisors and team leaders understand their responsibilities and have the time and resources to carry them out.

■Ensure everyone knows what they must do and how they will be held accountable set objectives.

Cooperation:

■Chair your health and safety committee if you have one. Consult your staff and their representatives.

■Involve staff in planning and reviewing performance, writing procedures and solving problems.

■Coordinate and cooperate with those contractors who work on your premises.

Communication:

■Provide information about hazards, risks and preventive measures to employees and contractors working on your premises.

■Discuss health and safety regularly.

■Be 'visible' on health and safety.

Ask yourself:

1 Have you allocated responsibilities for health and safety to specific people are they clear on what they have to do and are they held accountable?
2 Do you consult and involve your staff and their representatives effectively?
3 Do your staff have sufficient information about the risks they run and the

preventive measures?
4 Do you have the right levels of expertise? Are your people properly trained?
5 Do you need specialist advice from outside and have you arranged to obtain it?

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