Competent Health & Safety Advice
Health and safety is about saving lives, not stopping our lives. By engaging competent people to advise you on sensible risk management, you can ensure people are properly protected from real risks while still having fun.
How many times do you hear stories stating certain events and activities have been cancelled due to health and safety? School trips, playing conkers, graduates ordered not to throw their mortar boards in the air to name a few. But if you actually find out what are the true reasons for this nonsense, it is more to do with saving money on insurance or not wanting to invest the time or money in having a competent person carry out a proper risk assessment.
So what is distorting the health and safety message?
If competent advice is not sought, health and safety regulations can be misinterpreted, because the
individual does not have the right level of understanding and experience; risks can be exaggerated, excess paperwork can be created and activities and events are cancelled.
Health and safety is also often used as an excuse to save money or justify unpopular decisions. Who would argue with a manager for stopping an activity for “health and safety reasons”? However, a competent health and safety adviser can actually help these fun events take place by letting an insurer know that the organisation is taking risk management seriously.
Employers are required by law to appoint a “competent person” to give health and safety advice so they can be confident that risks are being managed sensibly and effectively.
Competent health and safety practitioners will have a sensible, practical and pragmatic approach to health and safety and will be able to balance your business needs with legislative requirements to ensure that you get the right approach.
For more information on sensible and competent risk management please contact us.