The general principles of Health and safety and enforcement procedures are contained in the Health and safety at Work Act, 1974, also known an ‘HASAWA’, a key piece of enabling legislation in the area of Health and Safety.
“HASAWA represented a se-change in the UK approach to Health and Safety legislation and was aimed at combating the endemic apathy towards Health and Safety provision, attributed to excessive, prescriptive and unintelligible law and compounded by ineffective policing and enforcement”. (Corbridge and Pilbeam, 1998, pp.251)
The 1974 Act also established the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive. The Health and Safety Commission advises the Government on the issue of regulations, which have statutory force. The commission also issue codes of practices and guidance’s with which employers should comply. These duties include:
- Promoting occupational health and safety
- Control of explosives
- Control of dangerous substances and emissions into the atmosphere
- Carrying out research and training
- Providing advisory service
- Issuing and approving codes of practice
- Submitting proposals for regulations
The Health and Safety Executive and its inspectorate may enforce statutory duties and can investigate serious accidents in the workplace.
1.2.3 Regulations and Codes of Practices
The secretary of State has power to make regulations, subject to approval by Parliament. This has resulted in a wide range of regulations relating to specific areas of risk. Such regulations include:
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, 1988
- Ionising Radiation Regulations, 1985
- Genetic Manipulation of Organisms Regulations, 1992
(Pitt, G 1997)
The above regulations are a few, but set the minimum safety requirements. For example, the Control of Substances Hazardous Act states the exposure limit to dangerous chemicals. They also require employers to make an assessment of the hazard within their particular organisation and to act upon the assessment.
1.2.4 Health and Safety Regulations Act, 1992
In order to implement the directives a number of regulations have been produced clarifying the new law and repealing out of date law. The new regulations apply to all work activities and place duties on employers in relation to their employees. The regulations cover:
- Health and Safety Management – Management of Health and Safety Regulations
- Work Equipment Safety – Provision and use of Work Equipment Regulations
- Manual Handling of Loads – Manual Handling Operators Regulations
- Workplace Conditions – Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations
- Personal Protective Equipment – Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations
(Refer to the Summary in Appendix)
1.2.5 The Duties of the Governing Body
As the employing authority, the governing body carries the ultimate responsibility for Health and Safety and could be held liable for offences under the 1974 Act. Among the duties placed on the governing body are:
- The preparation of a written statement of policy on Health and safety including details of the organisation and arrangements for implementing that policy
- Consultation of employees on Health and safety
- Provision for the appointment by recognised trade unions of Safety representatives
A number of tragic disasters in recent years have put Health and Safety at the top of the agenda, however there is always room for improvement in training and observance of Safety standards and safety is clearly an issue which employers, trade unions and workers need to address with the utmost seriousness.
2. The approach adopted by the Site Services Manager
2.1 Background of Company
JJK Retail Outlet has a company turnover of £25 million per annum and employs approximately 150 fulltime members of staff and 100 part-time staff, the majority of whom are sales personnel.
During busy times, for example leading up the Christmas period, the company recruits additional short-term contract workers. This figure can rise to as many as 300 employees.
(O’Sullivan, M 2004)
2.2 Background of Site Services Department
Site Services Department is managed by one manager and has a staffing complement of 35 people, some of whom are employed on a part-time basis.
The department has the liability for all work associated with: -
- Receiving and storing deliveries,
- Building security,
- Cleaning,
- General maintenance and repairs
2.3 Problems with Health and Safety
Currently, the Site Services Department is facing considerable difficulties in achieving a reasonable criterion of health and safety. The problems raised are as follows: -
- Unsafe manual handling i.e. not using correctly (lifting gear)
- Untidy working areas i.e. cluttered and not organised
- Irregular use of personal protective equipment i.e. not wearing the right equipment
- Poor storage of goods i.e. unsafe (block fire exits)
As a result, the department has recorded a high number of accidents, injuries and absences.
2.4 How the Site Services Manager has dealt with the problems
The Site Services Manager considers he has a very direct management style and health and safety issues are not that significant compared to the operational demands.
The Site Services Manager feels ‘training staff or to use occupational health professionals, videos and posters is pointless’. He prides in coming down hard (his policy) on any unsafe practices or unacceptable behaviour.
The policy acts on issuing warnings and punishments for undesirable behaviour and comprises of: -
- Allocating unpleasant jobs i.e. cleaning
- Overtime is restricted
- Offending and embarrassing the staff in front of co-workers
A latest analysis of accident and injury statistics for Site Services has revealed a downward trend for the first few months, leading to slight deterioration in relationships between Site Services Department and the Sales function. The Sales team are complaining that Site Services are more concerned about health and safety issues rather than focusing on the customer.
The key issue being accidents and injuries are being under-reported for the reason of fears being punished, which raises doubts about the validity of the decrease. The Site Services Manager has realised that his policy is failing and needs to act quickly to overcome this problem effectively and efficiently.
(O’Sullivan, M 2004)
2.5 Conclusion
To conclude there are a number of problems that needs solving to create a healthy and safe environment for its workers. At the moment: -
- There is no identification of a good health and safety culture. The Site Services department is centrally focused on its operations
- There are no formal procedures or strategies put in place to overcome the health and safety problems i.e. risk assessments or providing general information on health and safety
- There is no involvement of the Human Resource Manager
- There are no training programmes on health and safety, for example, how to use equipment correctly which would reduce unsafe manual handling
A strategic plan needs to be implemented to resolve this situation.
3. The strategy to be adopted to resolve the situation in the Site Services Department
3.1 Introduction
The Health and Safety at Work Act (refer to page 5) and subsequent legislation has placed a responsibility and duty of care on employees to provide a safe place of work and on employees and sub-contractors to co-operate with all measures, which reinforce this requirement.
Important features of these duties include carrying out risk assessments, reporting accidents and dangerous occurrences and providing appropriate training, whereas in the Site Services Department there are no such procedures.
It is very important to have a good, effective health and safety strategy implemented in the work place.
3.2 What is a Health and Safety strategy?
A health and safety strategy is ‘an elaborate and systematic plan of action’ (Tuc, online). JJK Retail Outlet must implement strategies that manage all risks and opportunities in relation to reputation; within these strategies there must be included a clear strategy for the successful management of health and safety.
The most appropriate and successful Health and Safety strategy is likely to be one that is ‘consistent with identified characteristics of JJK Retail Outlet, that aligns detailed health and safety objectives with these characteristics and then identifies the actions that ensue from the employee objectives’ (Ecommerce-now, online).
3.3 Performance Measures
Performance Measures ensure that the key objectives identified are tackled efficiently and successfully. These are implemented to protect employee’s health and safety by ensuring that risks in the changing workplace are properly controlled.
3.3.1 Implement Plans
- Determine and implement plans to mitigate specific hazards identified through risk assessments, inspections and audits
- Risk assessments identify the measures needed to be taken to eliminate or minimise risk
- To report on resources and performances
3.3.2 Review Training
- Reassess training of employee’s, employers and health and safety managers every so often for refresher training
- Retrain on any new equipment to reduce irregular use of personal protective equipment
3.3.3 Manual Handling Assessments
- To ensure that there are sufficient trained manual handling assessors appointed to carry out assessments
- All existing manual handling assessments to be reviewed by trained assessors
- Assessors to be involved in investigation of manual handling incidents
3.3.4 Work-related stress
- Investigate all cases of stress to ascertain whether work is a contributing factor
- All work-related cases to be reported
- Implement action plans
3.3.5 Monitor and Review performance of Health and Safety Managers
- Improve the Health and Safety contract
- Run workshops for Health and Safety Managers on new training
- All Health and Safety Managers to monitor health and safety performance of employees
3.4 Health and Safety Strategies
Health and Safety strategies are approaches to ‘improve the workplace health and safety by promoting opportunity and independence’ (HSE, online). The strategy should build on success and develop awareness to welcome change.
The strategic health and safety aim of JJK Retail Outlet should: -
- Protect employees by providing information and advice;
- Promote and assure a goal setting system of regulation;
- Undertake and encourage research;
- Influence its workers to embrace high standards of health and safety
The strategies are outlined below to ensure a good health and safety culture.
3.4.1 Involving the Workforce
An organisation’s greatest asset is its workforce. They can influence health and safety through their own actions and by accepting personal responsibility. The Health and Safety Representatives operating with the management are an important part of realising health and safety benefits.
3.4.2 Providing Support and Information
JJK Retail Outlet needs to promote greater access to, and take up of, authoritative health and safety advice and guidance. This should be active in preventing ill health and getting employees back to work more quickly (reduce the number of absences).
Every employer with five or more employees must prepare, revise a written statement and display posters of their general policy on health and safety at work. (Refer to the Appendix for an example)
3.4.3 Safety Representatives
Safety Representatives should be appointed, for example the five team leaders under the Site Services Manager, who have a duty of providing any health and safety information to its employees. ‘Employees should consult the representatives with a view to the making and maintenance of arrangements that will enable the employer and employees to co-operate effectively in promoting and developing measure to ensure the health and safety at work’ (Lewis, N and Sargeant, T, 2000).
(Refer to the Appendix for detailed outline of the Safety Representative)
3.4.4 Reporting Injuries
Certain injuries, incidents or accidents must be reported to the enforcing authority in writing and a record kept, if they arise out of or in connection with work activities.
3.4.5 Communicating effectively
Employee and employer involvement is a key ingredient in this approach. To communicate effectively, JJK Retail Outlet needs to develop more mature, open, transparent and inclusive two-way communications with all its departments i.e. Sales and Site Services.
JJK Retail Outlet needs to become a strong communicator and influencer, aiming to ensure that the business and societal benefits of health and safety are better understood and communicated. Everyone in the organisation must play a part in ensuring an effective two-way communication.
3.5 Benefits of Health and Safety
Appropriate health and safety management is an integral part of effective business management. JJK Retail Outlet can benefit significantly if there is an effective health and safety plan implemented.
These include: -
- Increase in savings through reduced sickness absence;
- Reduction in reportable accidents;
- Improved productivity;
- Increase in motivation;
- Better company image
Risk assessments are a simple, relevant and effective tool. While goal setting standards are more flexible and promote innovation. These, if conducted correctly, increase confidence and competence and promote effective self-regulation.
3.6 Conclusion
JJK Retail Outlet should be committed to taking a more active and strategic role in the development of the health and safety system. The business should implement the above strategies and review these periodically to make sure they remain consistent in their future challenges.
4. How an active and positive health and safety culture can contribute to organisational effectiveness
4.1 The Role of Human Resources (Health and Safety) in Organisations
The majority of organisations where separate human resource departments exist, they either have responsibility for Health, Safety and Welfare issues in organisations and play a major part in those activities. The main activities consist of:
- Formulating policy statements and procedures
- Monitoring safety policy and procedures
- Advising management and employees on safety legislation
- Designing, providing and recording Health and Safety training
(Torrington and Hall, 1998)
Apart from those activities a larger job is to achieve an effective Health and Safety culture within the organisation. Gill and Martin, 1976 pointed out that ‘an effective safety culture does not necessarily follow from having a set of rules/procedures to follow. A culture can be demonstrated by the behaviour of management, employees and their representatives’.
(Refer to the Summary in Appendix)
To achieve such a culture, human resource departments need to start by convincing management of the business and ethical cases. A reputation as an unsafe worksite can:
- Raise the cost of recruitment
- Cause a workforce to become demotivated
Therefore can lead to falling productivity and eventually lead to customers choosing to go elsewhere. Human Resources then, have an important role in:
- Formulating policy
- Encouraging a safety culture
- Advising on legislation
- Designing training and communication
- Monitoring accidents and dangerous occurrences
(Stredwick, J 2000)
Hence it is important to have an active positive health and safety culture, which can contribute to organisational effectiveness.
4.2 Health and Safety Culture
“Developing a positive Health and Safety culture is important if high standards of Health and safety are to be achieved and maintained. However there is a limit to the Health and Safety performance an organisation can achieve without addressing the contribution, which human factors have to play in eliminating occupational accidents and ill health”
(David Eves, HSE, 1997)
4.2.1 Concept
The concept of Health and Safety culture appears to have become increasingly important for our understanding and management of Health and Safety at work. The culture theory was of the dominant themes in the general management literature in the early 80’s, such as strongly influenced popular approaches to obtain organisational effectiveness.
It is a growing concept in managing and implementing best practice and the safety culture assessment enables organisations to take a fresh, objective look at their safety practices from a behavioural and operational perspective
The British safety culture has also defined a safety culture standard that will help organisations assess to what extent they value safety. However to create the right sort of culture is about:
- Determining individual and collective behaviours
- Understanding them
- Enabling organisations to formulate strategies to deal with them
4.2.2 What is a culture
A culture is a combination of organisations:
- Attitudes
- Behaviours
- Beliefs
- Values
- Shared characteristics
In order to improve one’s safety culture, an organisation needs to follow an appropriate strategy to achieve organisational effectiveness. This can include:
- Demonstrate commitment to safety
- Adopt good communications between all levels of the workforce
- Accept that the promotion of safety culture is a long term strategy, which requires sustained effort and interest
- Adopt a formal health and safety policy, supported by adequate codes of practice and safety standards
- Balance safety and production, service goals and stress that health and safety is equal to other business objectives
- Evaluate safety systems
However, even in organisations with well-established health, safety and environmental systems and procedures, accidents and forms of ill health can still occur. Why is that?
‘Many organisations have a tendency to hide behind key performance indicators that suggest they are doing as well as their competitors. But that is not enough to impress their customers. Best practice is an acknowledged component of business excellence. It can be achieved only when the people who manage and work in an organisation appreciate the true value of health, safety and environmental best practice. This is turn will result in an effective safety culture’ (Annex, E 2002).
Stress, for example has become one of the most serious health issues. Many people are subjected to pressure when employers take action to remain competitive. As organisations change and become more flexible, employees can be placed under considerable stress, which is most common among manual workers.
The Health and Safety Executive recommends that ‘occupational stress should be recognised as a Health and Safety issue’ (HSE, online). A systematic and problem-solving approach should be adopted to reduce stress, taking account of the culture of the organisation, individual circumstances and the work.
A recent case study ‘Companies told to prevent stress at work’ found that in the workplace, stress is now the fastest growing concern/cause of absence from work, which is costing British companies £3.7billion a year. For example, Tom Mellish, from the TUC stated that “Trade union legal officers have reported massive increases in the number of cases of stress, there’s something like 6,400 cases of stress related waiting at the moment to go through the courts”. (Refer to Appendix)
4.3 Conclusion
Nevertheless an appropriate strategy can provide many benefits to an organisation. These can include:
- Integrated safety management
- Effective controls
- Increased motivation
- Widespread ownership
This will enable you to set up a programme of continuous cultural development and establish a safety culture that is intolerant of hazards. The process will encourage involvement and participation in problem solving and thus have a positive impact on job satisfaction, motivation, trust and recognition of good safety performance. Errors will be reduced and values and beliefs identified that determine safe behaviour.
Most importantly a high level of communication about health and safety will be established. This will persuade employees to identify hazards, suggest effective control measures, provide positive feedback and take ownership. Ultimately there will be an improvement of management visibility, demonstrate commitment and upgrade the management and quality of training.
4.3.1 Further Recommendations
From the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) viewpoint they believe that personnel specialists play a critical and important role in convincing organisations of the competitive benefits to be gained from proactive strategies and that effective management of health and welfare of people at work. This can:
- Contribute to performance improvement and increase competitive advantage
- Reduce unacceptable losses associated with ill health and injuries
- Lower absenteeism, improve morale and reduce litigation costs
CIPD also recommend the implementation of practical occupational health policies, tailored to circumstances.
(CIPD, online)
Conclusion
There are key requirements under the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974 that reinforce the key issues regarding the appropriate health and safety needed in the workplace.
The problems that the Site Services department are having can be solved if effective action is taken place and the well being of the employees is considered as a priority.
Top management must demonstrate commitment and provide leadership in formulating strategy, developing policies and monitoring performance, with the endurance that necessary resources are available to implement these policies.
An active and positive health and safety culture can contribute to organisational effectiveness for the following reasons mentioned above.
List of References
-
A Good Safety Culture Ecommerce-now [Online] Available: [1 March 2004]
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Annex, E. (n.d.) Health and Safety Legislative Framework Shef [Online] Available: [12 February 2004]
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Companies told to prevent stress at work, 2004 BBC [Online] Available: [7 March 2004]
-
Corbridge, M. and Pilbeam, S. (1998) Employee Resourcing Financial Times Management
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Eves, D. (1997) Health and Safety Culture Tand [Online] Available: [4 March 2004]
-
Giffin, N. (1993) Employment Handbook, 8th Edition. Tolley Company Limited
-
Gill, I. and Martin, K. (1976) Safety Management: Reconciling Rules with Reality. Personnel Management, June
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Health and Safety Strategy, 2004 HSE [Online] Available: [1 March 2004]
-
Keenan, D. and Riches, S. (2002) Business Law, 6th Edition Pearson Education Limited
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Lewis, N. and Sargeant, T. (2001) An Introduction to Employment Law, 2nd Edition Financial Times
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Occupational Health and Organisational Effectiveness CIPD [Online] Available: [28 February 2004]
-
O’Sullivan, M (2004) Assignment Two Notes
-
Pitt, G. (1997) Employment Law, 3rd Edition Sweet and Maxwell
-
Stredwick, J. (2001) An Introduction to Human Resource Management Butterworth – Heinemann
-
Torrington, D. and Hall, L. (1998) Human Resource Management, Prentice Hall
Appendix
