Another week and YET another piece that shows health and safety gone bonkers.

A popular racecourse has introduced a ban on spreading rugs and eating in chairs i.e. no picnics. At the races! Their reason: picnickers’ furniture created a “potential trip hazard”.

In the same week, we get the report that a NHS office carried out a health and safety report to assess the implications of removing one printer from the office. They assessed how 17 population groups would be affected by the move.

The move of ONE printer!

Little wonder, many people ‘tune out’ when they hear health & safety.

The sheer waste involved simply cannot be justified.

It all seems terribly OTT, but safety is really subjective.

What you consider safe may be different to another individual. This is especially true in situations of organised ‘chaos’; like on Britain’s roads. The dance between cyclists and HGVs often leads to fatalities, just because one person isn’t patient. The same can be said for warehouses with forklifts, motorised pickers, pedestrians criss-crossing the shop floor.

Seems absurd, till you hear stories like this:

1. The worker who fell through the roof while fixing a hole in it.

2. The B&Q employee who was crushed between a wall and the vehicle she was operating.

3. The worker who fell out of a man-basket on a forklift truck

4. The worker who died when racking collapsed and heavy boxes stacked above fell on his head.

The industrial work place is rife with hazards and safety still takes second or third place on the priority list of many firms. Many CEOs baulk at the supposed cost of safety; forgetting that costs are an essential part of running any business. Just think of the cost to your firm when that railing that was flagged a few months ago, falls on the agency worker, crushing body parts.

Safety is a highly emotional issue, because the potentially fatal effect far outweighs the initial; a small cost required to safety-proof the premises.

How can you implement a HSE program? It doesn’t have to be rocket science. We’ll assume you have no program in place; in this 2-part article we will discuss the who, what, why, where, when of implementing a safety program. In some places, it may almost seem pointless to point out an obvious point, but with the rate of accidents not receding, its a necessary evil.

The WHO – Who is responsible for Health & Safety?

In the UK, under the following acts, the employer is primarily responsible for safety of the workforce:

• the Health and Safety at Work 1974.
• the Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998.
• the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

These regulations mandate that employers are responsible for ensuring workers are capable and suitable for assigned tasks. There must also be adequate training and risk assessment carried out. This becomes a grey area when there is a complex corporate structure; with managers, supervisors, assistant supervisors all passing responsibility.

However, in our opinion, EVERYONE must take responsibility for their safety; without assuming someone else had taken care of it. Management can reinforce this with regular staff meetings, listening to staff, and implementing a walk-around policy.

A HSE plan shouldn’t be hard to develop and implement.

Using our tips as guidelines; you can develop a strategy that will keep your staff safe. Join us next week, for the remaining tips on crafting your strategy.

Monarch Shelving, the North West’s best supplier of racking, shelving and other warehouse storage equipment. Contact us for new, used and refurbished equipment at the best possible prices.