You are the Health & Safety Officer!

Too often health and safety regulations are perceived as a waste of time or getting in the way of getting the job done, yet the ultimate cost of failing to develop and implement a proper safety regime can be huge fines, loss of reputation and customers, and in the worst case scenarios, loss of life or limb.

Why risk any, or indeed, all of these for the sake of shaving a few minutes off the job? For example, an Australian postal business was fined $73000, when an accident occurred putting an employee in hospital. The safety procedures were in place, however they were not adhered to, and the company was fined for failing to enforce them. Or the recycling company in Scotland who were fined £165000 when a worker lost an eye in a freak accident. (They had completed a Risk Assessment for the regular procedure but did not have one in place for when things went wrong.) A real health and safety culture at your business will give confidence not only to your employees, but to your customers, knowing they are dealing with a firm that takes the safety of their employees and visitors seriously.

So why not try this? We all know about “the accident book”, where we report accidents that have occurred and what damage was done. How about creating a "near miss*" register too? Have employees report hazards and incidents that, while they did not result in any damage to persons or property, they may have done. This can be anything from reporting an unsafe practise to identifying items that are left out of place. Keep it accessible and positive and get staff interaction flowing. Most of all, get Senior Management to act on every report. It is an ideal opportunity to for them to work on a project with those on the ground and goes a long way to rid an organisation of a them and us mentality. It may use up a little resource now but watch your accident reports fall away as your people, on the spot, catch and prevent dangerous situations from happening in the first place!

And let the "I told you that would happen" crowd, have an opportunity to work in the present tense.

* For any pedants among you we could call this a "Just didn't happen!"

From time to time, I am minded to share some of the experiences we have gained in contract packaging and packaging materials over the last quarter of century .(and on three different continents!) The topics will cover best practises for packaging (in the Transit Packaging field) and also proven tips that can be implemented in any operational field or Owner Managed Business. Hyper-links to other resources on the topic covered would be most welcome in the comments section below, that way we all keep learning.

(As would a like or follow if you think this post has been of some use to you.)