The HSE are the ones who will come and inspect your company to ensure you are meeting the health and safety laws. If they discover any breaches in the Regulations in place to protect you, your workers and the public, you may find yourself in serious legal trouble. Not only could this result in a criminal record, custodial sentence and legal fines but you could also could receive fees from intervention and have problems when you come to continue trading.
Provide Training to Help Develop an Excellent Health and Safety Policy
Avoiding problems with the HSE isn’t as difficult as you might expect. Providing you have the information you need in order to manage health and safety in your workplace you should find it easy to work within the laws and follow regulations. In order to gain the knowledge you may require training.
There are lots of excellent courses for business owners to ensure they are aware of their legal responsibilities and how to fulfil them. But the training doesn’t stop there; you also need competent people on your team to help you.
Your managers and supervisors need to be adequately trained when it comes to health and safety, regardless of what industry you’re in. There are NEBOSH courses designed to provide the skills supervisors and managers need. The courses are available in e-learning / online format so there are no excuses for failing to meet your legal duty in ensuring each manager and supervisor has the skills they need to perform their duties.
What’s more you also have to provide working safely training to all of your workers, regardless of their experience, age or their level within your firm. This is one of the regulations you must follow to avoid problems with the HSE.
However, it also has more benefits to you and the company as a whole. With a workforce full of trained individuals it is easier to create an environment where health and safety concerns are made a top priority. It can help to reduce the risks, control the hazards and ensure that each individual is aware of the way their behaviour can have an impact on the health and safety of everyone else.
When Do the HSE Investigate?
You should always be prepared for the health and safety executive inspectors to arrive at your premises. Being prepared at all times will help you to maintain excellent working environments and ensure that you are not at risk of being prosecuted for failing to follow regulations should the inspectors make a surprise visit.
The inspectors will arrive to investigate any accident or near miss incident which needs to be examined. If a worker is seriously injured or killed while working it is essential to discover if the accident could have been avoided through better management. There doesn’t have to be an accident for the inspectors to come round, they may decide to do an impromptu spot check, have a tip off from a concerned employee, sub-contractor or even from a member of the public.
By ensuring everyone has adequate training in health and safety it is possible to create and maintain excellent policies, procedures. The health and safety courses also provide each candidate with the right techniques in order to reduce accidents and health risks at work. Each individual needs to apply what they have learnt to ensure a strong health and safety culture is found in your organisation in a bid to show the HSE that you have your priorities in order.
Be prepared for a HSE inspection at any time. They will check to see you are complying with health and safety legislation for the safety of yourself and others.