During my mother-in-law’s last few years of failing health, I had the pleasure of meeting one of her home care helpers. I watched her bubbly personality cook, tidy-up and put a smile on a frail old lady – all in her 15-20 minute allowed visit time. As she dashed for the door, I asked her where she was going next … Read More
Safety and Business Performance – Correlation and Causality
This post continues our examination of what it takes to make safety a keystone habit within a business, thereby, driving improved business performance while improving worker safety. Note that in this scenario ‘improved business performance’ means significantly outperforming competitors in a sustained manner over a period of several years. We’re not talking a few percentage points improvement in productivity from … Read More
Making Safety a Keystone Habit
The business benefits of good safety practices are clear and obvious. As the HSE lists them: Reduced absenteeism Staff retention Brand reputation protection Increased productivity and profits Reduced insurance and legal costs But, if I’m a Board member of a Forbes 2000 company, is that going to grab my attention? I don’t think so. They’re nice benefits and, of course, … Read More
The Human Oil in the Process Engine
Today started with a review of Staying Alive: Preventing Serious Injury and Fatalities while Working at Height All-Party Parliamentary Group on Working at Height from February 2019. This on the back of the recent headlines about the upward trend of worker fatalities, particularly those arising from ‘falls from a height’, and our subsequent deeper dive into the historical statistical trends. … Read More
H&S Statistics – Behind the Headlines
In our last post on breaking through the statistical plateau that is health and safety fatality rates in Great Britain, we reflected on the recent headlines that greeted the [provisional] increase in fatalities to 147 in 2018/19 from 141 in 2017/18 and the accompanying rise in fatalities caused by falls from height, 40 from 35. We took an action to … Read More
Breaking Through The Statistical Plateau
This is a difficult post with more questions than answers. Over time we’ll work to try to answer these questions. Some are just a matter of research, some are more philosophical and much more difficult to answer. The basic challenge is breaking through the statistical plateau that is the Great Britain worker fatality rate. For the past five or six … Read More
Why Cycle to Work Day is Important for Workplace Safety
Thursday 8th August is Cycle to Work Day in the UK. What has this got to do with safety in the workplace? Quite a lot actually. A 2018 Decathlon survey of more than 7,600 UK adults found that only 7% currently cycle to work. For the reader musing that you’re more likely to get killed cycling to work than through … Read More
Delivering Increased Control and Compliance Using e-permits
This post begins by summarising the benefits delivered by e-permits, the electronic permit to work software and work authorisation system, in bringing increased control and compliance to the existing paper process. It continues with a detailed “how” e-permits delivers these benefits. In Summary By providing critical information to the appropriate people just as they need it, e-permits helps ensure that the… … Read More
Using e-permits to Reduce Cost
The most recent HSE estimates put the cost to Great Britain of workplace injuries and new cases of work-related Ill Health at £15bn annually (for 2016/17). The costs only include self-reported injuries and new cases of ill-health attributable to working conditions. Despite the preponderance of injuries, the new cases of ill-health account for two-thirds of the total cost burden owing … Read More
Using e-permits to Reduce Risk
As the UK’s first and leading web-based permit to work software and work authorisation system, e-permits delivers significant benefits to our clients while ensuring that people work safely and are safe at work. These benefits accrue from e-permits’ ability to bridge the disconnect between an organisation’s well-honed health and safety policies and procedures and what actually happens on the ground. … Read More
2018/19 Workplace Fatalities – Why Change is Imperative
The provisional Workplace fatal injuries in Great Britain, 2019 statistics have been published by the HSE. The resulting headlines thus far have been focused on the increase in workplace fatalities (147 in 2018/19p vs. 141 in 2017/18) with ‘workers falling from height’ being the major cause of fatal injuries at 40 and ‘being struck by a moving vehicle’ the next … Read More
Banyard Solutions’ Alan Gunn Appointed Treasurer of Safety Groups UK
Photo caption (L to R): Norman Stevenson, Chair of Safety Groups UK (SGUK); Alan Gunn of Banyard Solutions, Chair of Safety Group West Scotland (SGWS) & the incoming Treasurer of SGUK; Mike Nixon the outgoing Treasurer of SGUK. This month saw Banyard Solutions’ Alan Gunn elected as Treasurer of Safety Groups UK. Congratulations to Alan! This is great recognition for … Read More
The Business Benefits of Health and Safety
Why do we do it? Health and Safety, I mean. I’m sure every reader of this blog got involved, or at least remain involved, because they want to ensure that people work safely and are safe at work, or variation of that statement. That’s why we do it – we simply want people to go home safely at the end … Read More
The Current Use of RAMS in Health and Safety… And Should We Be Using Them More?
RAMS – Risk Assessment Method Statements – are a grey area in health and safety. Despite this, there are indications their use is increasing. While the rules on the use of risk assessments are clear, what are the exact requirements for preparing RAMS? What is the law, what is the current advice on best practice, and is that advice correct? … Read More
Why Keeping People Safe Improves Business Performance
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
