Of all the public sector organisations it
is probably the Health and Safety Executive that takes the most flak. The media leaps on to any judgement that, in
their view, demonstrates a complete lack of understanding about what happens in
the real world.
Typical recently have been the edict from a
local authority that children playing conkers must wear safety spectacles and
there are many similar examples.
I recall another situation where a restorer
of paintings in an art gallery asked to take down a painting to examine it more
closely. She was told that as the
picture was on the wall and over sic feet above ground, she would need to:
- Use scaffolding and definitely not a ladder
- Take a two-day course to familiarise herself with
scaffolding
- Wear a hard hat at all times
She resigned the job.
Of course, it is relatively simple to poke
fun at the bureaucrats and the media are not behind the door when something
occurs that is off the wall.
There is a mass of statistics available on
Health and Safety which I haven not surveyed in detail but I am willing to bet
that over the past decade there will have been and marked reduction in the rate
of accidents in the workplace.
There is little doubt that the whole
subject if Health and Safety can be contentious but in the end it is the
company taking the matter really seriously that demonstrates to its workforce
that their safety is of primary concern.
I have several companies in my Vistage
groups that employ people in the workforce who run the risk of injury during
the normal run of events and it is those companies that take the subject most
seriously.
Perhaps primarily those companies with a large
workforce away from base and on site that need to ensure that the rules are
followed without exception.
The consequences can be drastic especially
if there is a fatality where now the management of the business can be charged
with a string of offences right up t manslaughter, never mind the possibility
of the business being closed down.
In the end there are two major criteria
that persuade leaders to ensure that Health and Safety is taken really seriously
at all levels in the business.
Firstly and obviously strict compliance
with the rules vastly reduces the risk to the business of fines and more levied
on the company and its management quite apart from a negative effect on
profitability.
Secondly, because the company visibly takes
the whole subject seriously, the workforce is likely to realise that the
subject is constantly under scrutiny and that the management takes their
well being seriously as well.
Indeed Vistage UK speaker, Jo Haigh,
strongly recommends that Health and Safety must be on the agenda of every Board
meeting. Moreover one member of the Board must have final responsibility for
ensuring that it is taken seriously at all levels of the business.
At least three of my Vistage members have appointed
a Director of Heath and Safety to demonstrate the importance of the function.
It is the good employer that shows the
level of commitment of the business to the well being of its employees is a
paramount consideration. That would be
expected to result at least in a lifting of morale.
Poke fun at the anomalies, yes, because
it’s easy and amusing; on the other hand if it can prevent an accident or even
save a life during the working day how can it be discounted as unnecessary and
intrusive?
You can download my book "Leading to Success" from Amazon Kindle
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