The management of health and safety at work should be an absolute priority for an employer. Employers have a moral as well as a legal duty to care for the health and safety of their employees and should therefore take adequate and reasonable steps to protect the well-being of their employees.
- What good health and safety management entails
- Why good health and safety management benefits employers
- What employers should do to ensure the health and safety of their employees
What good health and safety management entails
As an employer you have a legal responsibility for the health and safety of your employers under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. You must therefore take the following steps as far as reasonably practicable to provide:
- A safe working environment
- A safe system of work
- Safe tools, appliances and equipment
- Protection from hazards
- Any necessary training and instruction for your employees
You, as above, must take the reasonably practicable steps necessary to ensure that the above criteria are met. This will entail such steps as the investigation of working areas, the conducting of regular health and safety risk assessments and the provision of health and safety training to your staff (among other things).
Why good health and safety management benefits employers
Good health and safety management benefits employers for the following reasons:
- Morale
- Productivity
- Good practice
- Avoids litigation
- Avoids prosecution
Morale
If one of your staff suffers an injury because of poor health and safety standards at your workplace then it can have an effect on the morale of other staff members. This is obviously a problem – poor staff morale can lead to higher staff turnover, a loss of skills and experience, and a loss of productivity.
Productivity
As above, poor health and safety standards don’t necessarily just affect the staff member who’s injured; it can affect other staff members as well. If your staff are unhappy this can lead to a loss of productivity, which can lead to a loss of revenue.
Good practice
The simplest reason for the implementation of adequate health and safety standards in the workplace is that this is indicative of good management practice in general.
Avoidance of litigation
If one of your employees is injured at work then this could lead to either employment law litigation or your being sued for personal injury. Your employee, if you fail to have taken adequate steps to protect their health and safety, could claim issue a claim in the Employment Tribunal against you for whistleblowing and constructive unfair dismissal (if they resign as a result of your unreasonable failure to implement adequate health and safety standards) and they could equally make a claim against you for personal injury in the civil courts. Employers obviously wish to avoid these sorts of problems.
Avoidance of prosecution
You also run the risk of investigation and prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive if you are particularly negligent in your failure to uphold adequate health and safety standards. This can be particularly costly if you are found guilty of a statutory breach.
What employers should do to ensure the health and safety of their employees
As above, employers should:
- Train their employees adequately
- Provide suitable equipment, appliances and tools
- Implement an appropriate health and safety policy
- Carry out regular checks in the workplace for hazards
- Carry out risk assessments in the workplace on a regular basis
- Have a first aid box on the premises
- Have particular staff designated as responsible for health and safety at work
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