The Health and Safety Blog

To manage safety objectively, Line Managers need arrangements to enable them to monitor implementation of systems against the defined standards.

Often, managers assume that because the written procedures are in place and staff are trained to use them compliance is automatic – this has been proven to be a dangerously erroneous assumption in many cases, for example Kings Cross, Piper Alpha, Clapham Junction, the Herald of Free Enterprise, etc. There is always the danger of the ’short-cut’ or ‘custom and practice’ being established and very often this is only identified in public enquiries following serious accidents rather than by routine monitoring before the accident occurs.

To manage any aspect of an organisation’s activity the manager must have targets and regular feedback of information on performance. Safety management is no exception, the performance feedback comes from monitoring and incident/accident information.

There are varying levels of monitoring activities, and companies adopting best practice in safety management will have in-house procedures for all of the following:

Health and Safety Audit

Health and Safety Audit is the part of a safety management system which subjects each area of company activity to a systematic critical examination. Each component of the total system is included: management policy, features of the process and design, operating procedures, emergency procedures, training, etc. The aim is to disclose the strengths and weaknesses and the main areas of vulnerability and risk, with the objective of minimising loss through accident and/or plant damage.

The outcome of the audit will be a report, followed by an action plan agreed with local management. The implementation of the action plan must be monitored. A Safety Audit will be carried out by a team of people who are competent and with a satisfactory degree of independence from the plant or unit under audit.
The frequency of the audit will be dependent on management policy.

For example, some companies may audit on an annual basis and use a scoring system to monitor improvements. Others may consider that a full safety audit is only necessary at five yearly intervals. The frequency of future audits is decided by weighing the benefits gained against the more frequent checks of compliance offered by an inspection program following the initial audit.

Some companies prefer to carry out integrated audits, which include not only safety but also environment, quality and other business improvement processes. These audits can only be conducted using the integrated approach when the management systems have already been integrated.
All audits should be pre-planned and a documented checklist of the audit content prepared.

Health and Safety Surveys

These are an in-depth critical examination of one particular aspect of a company activity. These in-depth surveys will be used in response to a concern over safety or the adequacy of a particular activity and may be initiated as the result of an incident, or following analysis of the results of an audit. The survey can be carried out by one or more appropriately qualified persons who will produce a report and action plan with local management. As in the case of audits, follow-up in terms of monitoring is essential.

Health and Safety Inspections

Good safety management demands a structured system of inspections, carried out by different levels of supervisory and managerial staff.

Front Line Supervisors’ Inspections:

The Front Line Supervisor, because of his detailed knowledge of the work and his position as the manager closest to the workforce is a key person in any Safety Management programme. It is a part of the supervisor’s responsibilities to be constantly aware of the safe working in his area of responsibility and he should, as an integral part of his duties, correct any unsafe acts or conditions on a daily basis. In addition, it is good safety management practice for a supervisor to allocate a proportion of his working time to carrying out safety inspections.

These inspections should be pre-planned and an inspection checklist produced, covering all tasks and areas under his responsibility, in turn, and can include “hardware”, i.e. machinery or conditions inspections and “software”, i.e. procedural compliance inspections.

Any of the workforce found to be in breach of the safety requirements should be counselled and advised or retrained as required. Persistent transgressors should be disciplined. Where these breaches are caused by non-existent, inadequate, or out-of-date information, this must be reviewed and updated.

Line Management Inspections:

A vital element of Safety Management is for the Line Manager to be seen to be actively involved and committed to safe working. He must take time to get into the workplace, personally check that the safety requirements are being implemented and communicate with his staff on the job regarding their safety concerns.

“It is the Line Manager’s attitude towards safety which will largely determine the attitude of his workforce”

These Line Management Inspections should be planned and documented and the outcome communicated to the workforce and action taken to rectify inadequacies.

Senior Management Inspections:

The Health and Safety Policy Statement will be issued by the managing director of the organisation, who must demonstrate his commitment to the safety policy by personal involvement and communications with the workforce. Senior management safety inspections are an ideal vehicle for demonstrating commitment between workforce and senior managers.

Incident/Accident Investigation

In any activity in life human beings learn from past mistakes. The quality of the Incident/Accident investigation system is very important to aid continued improvement in safety performance and ensure there is no recurrence of the incident. The incident/accident investigation should contain a number of elements:

• All accidents/incidents should be communicated and all of them with potential to cause personal injury or property damage should be investigated.

• All conditions that could cause injuries or damages should be investigated.

• The outcome of any incident/accident investigation should be communicated to everyone in the organisation.

• Recommendations from incident/accident investigations should be implemented as quickly as possible.

• Investigators should be trained and competent.

• Incident/Accident investigation recommendations should be fed back into improving procedures and training where necessary.

Accidents are not caused simply by human error. There will always be a number of fundamental or root causes.

Investigations should seek these out and not stop at the superficial. For example, an accident apparently caused by a failure to observe working procedures might have more fundamental causes such as: inadequate training; impractical procedures; excessive production pressures; or a working group culture of ignoring formal methods.

Safety monitoring and Incident/Accident Investigation are vital constituents of good practice in safety management.

For a Health and Safety Audit for your business get in touch today

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safetymatters Health and Safety Management health and safety audit

Negative attitudes perpetrated over time can squelch workplace innovation.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that innovative new ideas are the lifeblood of any business. In today’s rapidly changing competitive business world, if you’re not steadily moving ahead, you are, in fact, falling behind. It won’t be long before your competitors leave you in the dust. However, it also doesn’t take a rocket scientist to observe the numerous obstacles business put in the way of getting the very innovative new ideas they need.

Think about it for a second.

How many times recently have you heard someone (or even yourself!) say, in response to the suggestion of a new and innovative idea, any of the following: “We don’t do things that way around here.” “We tried something like that a while back and it didn’t fly.” “That’s a really interesting idea, but you’ll first have to satisfy Policy S, Y and Z before we can even consider it.”

If you’ve worked in a large business (which includes government) you’ve heard more than your share of these statements, and a plethora more like them. They all reflect a simple truth about how business policies begin and get perpetrated that, as the story below points out, even monkeys can understand.

Start with a cage containing five monkeys.

Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb toward the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt to get the banana with the same result – all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water.

Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. (Even monkeys experience turnover!) The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To her surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack her. After a second attempt and attack, she knows that if she tries to climb the stairs, she’ll be assaulted.

Now, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes straight to the stairs and is attacked. (The previous newcomer takes part in this hazing with enthusiasm!) Continue this turnover process (after all, new blood is a supposed good!) and watch as all the newcomers get the same treatment from their teammates (most of whom are not really all that sure why they were not permitted to climb the stairs in the first place or even why they are making life equally difficult for the newest monkey.)

Now, here is the real kicker.

After replacing all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever personally been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why? Because as far as they know, “that’s they way it’s always been done around here.”

So, if your business seems not to be getting the variety and number of truly new and innovative ideas it needs to stay ahead of the competition, here’s a few simple questions you might want to ask yourself.

Q.1 When is the last time you did a thorough and rigorously honest assessment of all your business’s Health and Safety Policy Risk Assessments and procedures to see which ones have become outdated?

Q.2 In what subtle (and not so subtle) ways do people’s new and different ideas get “doused” by you and or your colleagues?

Q.3 When you do bring some new blood on board, how long does it take for those people to look and act just like everyone else?

Why are these questions so vital? Because when it comes to human behavior in businesss, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the power of “monkey see, monkey do.”

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safetymatters Health and Safety Management behavourial safety, health and safety policy

The traditional `policing’ role of the Health and safety adviser has changed. No longer a mere safety officer, the safety adviser role is now that of a high-level internal consultant.

Employers expect them offer independent advice to senior management on the development of the organisation’s safety policies and their short, medium and long term strategic objectives for creating and maintaining a positive safety culture within their organisation.

In addition, they are expected to advise Directors, line-managers on both the development and implementation of appropriate control and monitoring systems and the review of ongoing safety performance, while at the same time conducting independent reviews of the whole safety management system.

To fulfil these functions in an effective manner, it is self evident that Health and safety advisers must be authoritative all rounders. While possessing an awareness of all aspects of safety per se, he or she will also need to:

• have an up-to-date and in-depth appreciation of all aspects of management and
management systems
• be experienced in problem-solving and decision-making
• be highly aware of the effects organisational change and development issues (e.g. project management, team-working, downsizing, contracting out, etc.) exert on safety.

Only when Health and Safety Advisers are armed with all this knowledge will safety advisers be in a position to recognise the need for change, and be able to positively influence unfolding events to help create an optimal safety culture throughout the organisation.

Thus, because of their new consulting role, and the need to ensure that their recommendations accord with business needs, modern Health and Safety advisers must be as familiar with all aspects of management as those advisers from other disciplines (such as finance, human resources, production, etc.) who comprise the senior management team.

Although the safety profession is making great strides to address these issues, it is still too often the case that many Health and safety advisers lack knowledge of the most basic management tools and techniques and, therefore, lack an understanding of how they might be used to good effect.

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safetymatters Health and Safety Management health and safety advisers

Method Statements or System of Work is a requirement of the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974 and is intended to provide both the client and the individuals that are carrying out the work, the necessary information to undertake the job safely.

It is essential that a copy of the Method Statements is kept available for inspection by all personnel. In addition, it is the responsibility of Management to ensure that all operatives are aware of their role in the job which is outlined within the Method Statement.

It is pointed out that this check list is not exhaustive and just gives outlined details of the type of information that should be provided.

Method Statements will depend on the complexity and size of the job and is intended to show how the work will be executed safely.

Method Statements should give details of the following:

1. Details of supervisory personnel on site who will be responsible for the work to be undertaken.

2. Details of Health and Safety Consultants providing advice and their name and telephone number.

3. Details of any personnel not involved on site but who can be contacted regarding design or other specialist information if necessary.

4. Work sequences.

5. Stabilisation of the works during their progress e.g., any temporary props, struts or supports that are required.

6. The method of executing the works which will include methods of lifting, fixing, holding or bolting. Slinging and unslinging practice where necessary.

7. Methods to prevent any falls from heights. Full details should be given ie, working,” platforms, handrails, safety harnesses or other means of preventing falling.

8. Access and egress to the job, ie, by ladders, mobile work access platforms, hoists etc. Location of any ladders or other means of access.

9. Methods of protecting materials falling from heights i.e., toe boards, debris/brick guards, boarding on platforms etc.

10. The description of plant to be used in the execution of the work its safe working load and details of any tests, certificates, inspections/registers which are applicable.

11. Details of what to do in case of emergency. This would include details of first aid and names of qualified first aiders.

12. Details of storage and stacking of items on site together with any delivery procedures and any assembly work that is going to be carried out.

13. Detailed calculations for any loading platforms, props, temporary works or supports that are to be provided during the progress of the job.

14. Personal protective equipment to be provided for employees and sub-contractors in particular, safety helmets etc.

15. Details of any confined space hazards and where necessary, atmospheric monitoring procedures and emergency equipment to be provided.

16. Details of any shoring to be provided in excavations, means of entry and barriers or secure coverings to be provided.

17. Details of certification of personnel on site i.e., Construction Industry Training Board Certification Scheme for Scaffolding, Steel Erectors, Plant Operators, Demolition Operatives etc. Details of any certification such as Mounting of Abrasive Wheels, Cartridge Operated Tools etc.

18. The training of operatives on site i.e., induction training and any details regarding their part to be played within the Work Method Statement.

19. Details on what Impacts are likely on the environment.

20. Details on the proposed waste management and waste streams to be used onsite.

For further advice or information please contact Veritas Consulting on 0121 249 1281

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safetymatters Health and Safety Management Method Statements, Safe System of Work

Before you begin looking for a Health and Safety Consultancy, you first have to decide what sort of safety consultants you need. For example, you may need someone to help you with general health and safety management, or you may need a specialist to deal with a specific workplace issue; such as,

• Dealing with harmful substances, such as asbestos

• Help identifying health problems

• Answering legal questions and challenges

• Investigating noise and vibration problems

• Preparing policies and procedures

• Planning and designing a safe workplace

• Identifying stress and strains factors

• helping staff return to work after they’ve been off with a serious injury or illness.

• writing risk assessments and method statements

Health and Safety Consultants and the key factors

A key factor is “Competence” and “Suitability” safety consultants need to be competent to do the work they carry out. ‘Competence’ is a mixture of experience, skills, knowledge and qualifications in the service that a health and safety consultancy are offering, as well as the employment sector the safety consultants work in, which ideally should be similar to yours.

You can check a health and safety consultants competence by asking them what qualifications they have, ask for a copy of their CV, request details on their experience and professional memberships, such as IOSH, APS, IIRSM.

If you’re considering engaging the services of a Health and Safety Consultancy with a large team, make sure that you check the credentials of the consultant who’ll actually be carrying out the work for your company. You should also check whether the consultancy has adequate resources for your business.

Whether you’re looking for general health and safety guidance or advice on complex, strategic or high risk situations, we recommend that you consider a Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner (CMIOSH or CFIOSH), such as Veritas Consulting.

You should always ask consultants for references and examples of work they’ve completed that are similar to yours, or work they’ve carried out in your particular industry. You could also talk to their previous clients to find out if they would use the safety consultant again and how they rate their performance.

It’s essential that the consultant you appoint has the correct level of insurance, including professional indemnity. So, check that their insurance covers the work they’re offering to do for you. If, for example, you’re looking for help from an asbestos consultant, it’s important that they’re insured to give this advice.

Because you’ll be working closely with the consultant, arrange face-to-face meetings with all prospective candidates before you make a decision on which one you want to do your work. Then you can make a shortlist.

Choosing and appointing a Health and Safety Consultancy

Once you’ve decided on the type of help you need and identified sources of competent advice, you’re now in a position to begin the process of choosing the right consultant for you and your organisation.

When you select a safety consultant, make sure they improve your health and safety management system (if you already have one). Be careful that you don’t end up paying for a generic ‘package’ of information, a set of risk assessments that aren’t tailored to your circumstances, or just a health and safety manual. One size doesn’t fit all.

Any information the safety consultant gives you should be specific to you and your business.

You should look beyond general information that will merely help you ‘tick the box’ if an HM inspector calls or an insurer asks for it.

Your organisation needs practical, proportionate and customised ways to manage your risks effectively and improve the health and safety of your business.

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safetymatters Health and Safety Management Health and safety consultancy, safety consultants

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR) lay down some of the main responsibilities and duties of persons at work.

Among the duties HASAWA places on employers are the requirements to ensure the health and safety at work of their employees and that of any other person who may be affected by their activities; and to have a written health and safety policy.

It also places duties on employees to:

(a) take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their “acts or omissions”;

(b) to co-operate with their employer so the latter can comply with his legal duties;

(c) not to interfere or misuse anything provided in the interests of health, safety or welfare.

The main requirements of the Management Regulations are that employers must: assess the risks to the health and safety of anyone who may be affected by their activities; and that adequate arrangements must be in place for the “planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review” of the safety measures that follow from those assessments.
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safetymatters Health and Safety Law, Health and Safety Management Health and Safety Management, managers health and safety