Is your health and safety a game of chance?

This SME News interview with our Founder Karl Spencer helps you understand the rules of the health and safety game and how to reduce the risk of chance

Have you ever contemplated you or your company’s playing a game of chance with health and safety?

You may not consider yourself a gambler, you feel you are risk-averse, but the definition of gambling is to stake something of value, with the consciousness of risk and hope of gain.

Are you rolling the dice?

If you are the employer, business owner or Company Director you have legal responsibilities and obligations to your employees and contractors to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare while at work.

If you’re a worker, you have a legal responsibility to take reasonable care of yourself and those who may be affected by the work you undertake.

Any person not fully meeting the required standards in health and safety could be unconsciously gambling and the outcome may not be as low-risk as first perceived.

How many of these gambling traits can you relate to your daily work-life?:

• Consideration
  • You know you need to give careful thought to health and safety and to comply with it, it’s the law.
• Risk
  • Everything you do while at work involves a situation involving risk exposure.
• And a Prize
  • The Prize can be an employer saving money on implementing compliant health and safety standards,
  • or the gain of time from cutting corners,
  • or a worker arriving home safe at the end of a working day.

Gambling at home is different from gambling in the workplace

Every day you get up and before you start work, you consciously consider risk and hope nothing goes wrong, allowing you to continue your working day safely – This is a risk assessment.

For example, you look out of the window to check the weather before choosing your coat and footwear.
The hazard you consider is the wet and cold weather; the risk is freezing, falling over and breaking a limb. Your control measure is to wear a warm coat, hat, gloves and boots. The prize is to get back home safely.

At work, the difference is this assessment, the control measures and supporting information and training is a legal obligation and comes with consequences for falling below the required standards.

Guarantee you always win

You can reduce your risk and achieve more rewards by understanding the rules, regulations, and legal obligations governing you and your business regarding health and safety. Having all the correct information provides employers, and business owners a huge advantage in playing the same game as the officials enforcing the law.

Here is a link to the interview with SME News and our founder Karl Spencer, explaining the game’s health and safety rules.

Still feel your not gambling?

Do you still feel you’re not gambling with your company and its employees?

If this is your mindset, you need to be secure; you can PROVE your business is compliant with the legal standards for health and safety?
We mean the legal standards regarding health and safety and not the standards set by your clients to get your company on their approved supplier list.

The interview with SME News and Karl Spencer highlights all Employers, Business Owners and Duty Holders that Health and Safety offences are concerned with failures to manage risks and do not require proof that the offence caused any actual harm.

We know many companies overlook the safety compliance question.
Some perceive that because they haven’t had to deal with a severe incident, defend a breach against health and safety regulations, or pay out a considerable injury claim, health and safety are not a priority.

Again, if this is your mindset, this link will take you to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) web page listing just a few recent prosecutions.

Keep hold of the thought ‘I’m safe and legally compliant’ while reading any of the successful HSE prosecutions.
Think how many Company Directors and Business Owners had a similar mindset; well, until the investigation started, realising they had policies and procedures in place, but could not prove their company met the required health and safety standards.

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