Coming from Strong Foundations

Many #businesses set out with the right attitudes towards #health and #safety and for the most part will be doing the right things. Often it will be the case that #policy and #procedure is in place with the best of intentions, but is that enough for businesses? Does that provide the business with the #protection that it needs? In this blog we will look at building a strong #foundation which allows your #to do whatever it does best.

In much the same way as a building, strong H&S foundations give the best structure.

Firstly, it is important to note that different businesses will have different requirements and that the needs of one business may be drastically different from another. This is all dictated by industry, attitude and activity. What follows is some basic guidance to help put the strongest foundation possible into place. This will allow you to build your business on a strong and stable health and safety footing. In today's society more than ever before we see a "claim culture", we hear about enforcing bodies taking drastic steps but what we don't hear enough about is how to mitigate against this. The first step to doing this is to put this strong foundation into place.

Take a look at the below graphic which shows how this foundation supports the business:

This is quite an in depth process, and for the main part in this blog post I will be looking at the foundations in safety, but it's important to understand how this all fits together. Once you have a business and you know what you are going to do to make money, you should make sure that your safety systems are in place to support your business.

It all starts with the Foundations in Safety, the Policy and the Procedure - and we will look at them in more detail shortly.

By having the Foundations in Safety in place, the pillars of obligation (which look suspiciously like our circles of Safety.... trust me that's more than a coincidence!), can be properly supported. These three areas are vital for keeping your business above board and legal. We will tackle these in more detail in the future.

All of this supports the big grey triangle at the top - your main business activity, the money maker, the thing that gets you out of bed in the morning. This ultimately leads towards financial growth, profit and, hopefully, money in your pocket, as an employee, Director or shareholder.

Finally, the yellow arrows. These are vital for a living, breathing and fully supportive system. Where ever you see a yellow arrow, you are seeing the flow of information, finances, support, staff or anything that is vital for the business to survive. This flow of information is the lifeblood of your business and again, this is something we will look at in the future.

Today's post though is about those "Foundations in Safety". So lets have a bit of a closer look at them.

Policy

Policy is such a formal word. It sounds so "business", so much so that many smaller business treat it in such a way that it should not be touched.

When we talk about Policy in relation to health and safety we talk about Health and Safety Policy documents.

We don't mean that you have to have one (although some business do... keep reading...) but rather that you know when you have to have one, what it should contain and what the point is.

It is vitally important to understanding that every business irrespective of turnover, profit or any other financial measure is obliged to have a health and safety policy if you employ more than 5 people.

Even in that bold statement, there are grey areas. For example, what is meant by "employee"? Do you have to have a contract to be an employee? Do you have to pay NI contributions? These are questions I hear all the time from new clients, so let's give you the Landmark definition of how we classify an employee:

An employee is anyone who you engage or instruct to carry out work activities for you in relation to your business.

There, that simplifies things a bit. We deliberately choose to be quite broad with that statement. According to our status that means any of the following could be classed as employees in relation to our Health and Safety advice:

• A person who is on the company payroll

• A contractor who you ask to carry out work

• Volunteers

• Anyone who you give financial reward to, from the business bank account, for services rendered

With this we make sure we hit and exceed the minimum standards of health and safety, offering the business the best possible protection.

Now we have worked out that a good chunk of business should hold a policy, we need to get this in place. You could go online and download some generic policy document and fill in the blanks, but that would be like filling a buildings foundations with sand, it won't support your business and certainly won't stand up to being tested by your clients, employees or enforcing authorities. Instead you should make sure that your policy is specific to your business. This is something we pride ourselves on. Our consultants take the time to get to know your business and this means we can support you in the best possible way. This all starts with a specific policy document. There are three parts to this:

1) The Statement of Intent - this lays out your commitment and should be signed by the most senior person in the organisation. With this persons buy-in, it is clear for everyone to see that H&S is driven from the top.

2) Organisational Structure - this normally starts with a pretty little diagram which lays out the Health and Safety (not reporting!) structure of the business. It will go on to define actual roles and what is expected of each role.

3) Arrangements - this is the meat of the policy. This lays out how the company will deal with the important topics. This is where we lay the foundations for procedures and policies which make the business work safely.

This policy document is a living document, which means it should be continually updated, added to, amended or taken away from to ensure that it is as up to date is it possible can be.

With this in place you can be confident that you have started to build the strongest possible foundations for safety in your business.

Procedure

Policy and Procedure are intrinsically linked. One informs the other and the two should always go hand in hand.

We have already spoken about arrangements, this should inform the procedures which you put into place. Always make sure that one backs the other up. If anyone wants proof that you are acting on your H&S policy arrangements, they should be able to look to your procedures and vice versa.

This is such a wide ranging topic and it is so different for every business that it is impossible to give any specific advice or guidance here. Needless to say, our consultants will always take the time to get to know your business. You can be rest assured that the procedures that we help to develop will be specific and will be supported by your policy.

When developing your policy, be sure to get the input of your workers. Don't forget that you have a duty to consult your workforce (legal), and that getting them involved means that they will have buy-in to your procedures as well as the procedures being actionable, rather than preventing them from doing their job (business). On top of all of this, no-one who has been doing a job for more than a year or so likes to be told that what they are doing is wrong. As a health and safety professional, we should be facilitating these discussions and working with others to meet the legal requirements placed on a business (moral) - but that's another topic for another time.

When developing policy there are some key things to keep in mind:

• Make sure your policy is actionable - your policy should be based around actually doing things rather than theory. This might be providing a written document (a procedure for instance), or booking training.

• Make sure your policy is specific - there is no such policy which can be downloaded and put in place for your business while still meeting the requirements. These documents are dangerous and will not afford your business any protection. Make your policy specific to your business and the activities which you and your staff undertake.

• Make sure your policy is a living document - no, this doesn't mean feed it and walk it twice a day, but rather be prepared to update and change your policy. As your business changes so should your policy. Do not wait until the 12 month review before updating your policy. Keep it fresh and relevant at all times.

• Get the buy-in of your staff - use your policy, refer to it, encourage your staff to read it and use it. It is a valuable tool for the protection of your business so use it! It is no use to you sat in the cupboard gathering dust (in fact, it is more likely to do harm than good if this is the case!). When you are developing your arrangements, get the opinions of your staff. It doesn't mean you have to do or include whatever they want, but you should seriously consider their point of view.

So with a robust policy in place, you have your foundations to support your liabilities. There is a lot more that goes into a safety management system, but these thoughts are a great first step along the road.

And don't forget that we are here to help. If all of this seems daunting and you are ready to take the protection of your business seriously, drop us a line: 01473 774 404 or email us: awillson@landmarkconstructionltd.co.uk