The Circles of Safety

Every business needs a model, a plan, a basis - something which gives you a winning formula. Our business is no different, the difference with us though is that we share this formula with all of our clients. We make sure that our clients understand our formula and with this in mind they are reassured that they will be getting a first class service from LTCS Ltd.

So, what is this magic formula that underpins everything that we do? We call it the Circles of Safety. Put simply, it looks at the main reasons for managing Health and Safety in a workplace. Seeing as this is so important to us, it makes perfect sense to be the first blog we put up. So, here they are, our Circles of Safety:

These really aren't all that complicated. Each circles is one of the fundamental reasons to manage health and safety, but lets take them one circle at a time and explain exactly what they mean.

LEGAL: We manage health and safety because the law tells us we have to. There are many different items of legislation (such as the Health and Safety at Work etc Act), which are in turn backed up by other regulations, guidance and instruction. In essence, this circle represents anything which puts a requirement on a business to do anything.

MORAL: We manage health and safety because it is the right thing to do. It would be immoral of a business to instruct an employee to do something which is obviously dangerous with no training, support or consideration to their own safety. This is very basic, but very important.

FINANCIAL: Proper health and safety management will save a business money, and in some cases will make a business money. The costs of an accident are huge, and then there are the non-financial costs too (such as damage to reputation). Putting the proper management of health and safety in place may have a cost attached to it, but it saves so much money in comparison to having an accident.

A company needs to be right in the middle of the model, where all of the circles meet. If any one of these three key elements is missing, the company will have inadequate management of health and safety. For example, if a company ignores the financial aspect, the controls will not "reasonably practicable" and the company may be spending far more than they need to, or may not be spending enough.

This is a really simple model, but one that we pride ourselves on. If you ask us "why do we need to do that?" you should get answer which covers all parts of the circles of safety.

For example;

Why do I have to do a risk Assessment?

-> The law says you need to do a risk assessment and that you need to record it if you employ five or more people (legal)

-> We need to tell the people who we are asking to do the work what could be dangerous so that they are aware of it and can avoid it and stay safe (moral)

-> By putting the risk assessment in place and following through with the controls, you will save yourself losses if there is an accident and you will protect the business against action being taken against you (financial)

This model is applied to all businesses of all sizes and provides a vital step in ascertaining which services are going to be beneficial for your business.

If you would like to know more then why not drop us a line:

Email: awillson@landmarkconstructionltd.co.uk

Tel: 01473 744 404 / 07702 077 493

Ash