Last week was Mental Health Awareness Week. Of course, it’s an on-going issue within society as well as the workplace so we thought we’d touch on stress here within the context of changing the health and safety culture within an organisation. And, yes, we’ll get to the reciprocity of safety and business performance. We’ve covered stress in the workplace extensively … Read More
Need to Talk to the Board? Read these suggestions first…
In our eBook “Beyond Compliance: A Guide to Changing the Health and Safety Culture in Your Organisation” we devoted a chapter to getting C-suite/Board buy-in with 9 specific, practical and actionable tips on how to handle that communication. With the increased onus on senior management participation in health and safety mandated by ISO 45001, access to the Board should be … Read More
Health and Safety Culture – Own Your Communications
Do you think we have enough information? Just about, right? Whatever topic you’re interested in there are a plethora of sources, some more legitimate/less fake/with less of an agenda than others. So, why has health and safety got such a bad rap? The post linked to was driven by comments from Andrew Sharman about, “an undercurrent of negativity around the … Read More
Can e-permits be Used for CDM Refurbishment Projects?
This is a question we’ve been increasingly asked over the past few months and the short answer is, “yes, e-permits can be used on CDM refurbishment projects.” The long answer is also a [resounding] yes. CDM refers to the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations which apply to all construction work. These health and safety regulations do apply to all construction … Read More
e-permits Enhancements – 2019 Year to Date
Not yet a third of the way through the year, 2019 has already seen a number of exciting feature enhancements to e-permits, our web-based permit-to-work system designed to prevent avoidable incidents. A big thanks to our Product Management function and Development team for their continued hard work in ensuring that workers work safely and are safe at work. This post … Read More
How the 5 Megatrends Impact Health and Safety
We’re living in interesting times. As a society. As a working population. As a health and safety industry. If you follow global macroeconomics you’ll be aware of the five megatrends that are moulding the planet and how we’ll co-exist with it and each other over the next century. Let’s have a quick look at the five megatrends and review which … Read More
Skills, Gigs and Zero-Hours Contracts
We first covered skills shortages in the UK economy back in January. The challenges facing employers in finding the right skills was highlighted in the Employer Skills Survey 2017, itself based on interviews with over 87,000 employers. By far the largest survey responses (by number of companies responding and the employment levels in their represented sector) came from Wholesale & … Read More
Global Asbestos Awareness Week April 1-7, 2019
It’s Global Asbestos Awareness Week incorporating the 15th International Asbestos Awareness and Prevention Conference running in Washington DC from April 5-7. We’ve commented extensively in the past on the issues surrounding asbestos in our society and this dreadful material has even become the cause of legal action alleging that Johnson & Johnson “knew for decades that its iconic baby powder … Read More
Data Centre of the Universe
When Jeff Bezos wrote his first letter to Amazon shareholders in 1997 he said, “But this is Day 1 for the Internet…” He has signed off every subsequent letter with “It remains Day 1!” While this is mainly a statement of the philosophy of the leadership and strategy of Amazon, it’s also a literal take on where we are with … Read More
Driving – the Most Dangerous Work Activity
There were 144 workplace fatalities in the UK in 2017/18. This number has been relatively static over the past 5 years. Additionally, around 500 people are killed every year while ‘driving for work reasons’. This excludes people commuting to and from work (more of that later). The UK and Ireland are the only two EU countries who do not report … Read More
The Contractor Management Challenge for Power Utilities
As we’ve discussed before, the UK power utilities sector is entering a period of disruption brought on by a combination of forces including skills shortages and the availability of ‘free’ energy to the consumer afforded by renewables. Particularly for the asset-heavy side of the sector, requiring significant on-going investment, this disruption will create a tough investment environment, one which will … Read More
The New Trend in Health and Safety: Enhanced Contractor Oversight and Management
There’s a trend in the health and safety industry that is gaining traction and looks set to become the new norm – enhanced health and safety oversight of contractors. Of course, guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that companies and the contractors they employ both have responsibility for health and safety. A key reason for this approach, … Read More
