Health & Safety - Replacing ‘good luck’ with good risk management
When talking to businesses about health and safety risks and potential consequences it’s common place to hear business leaders and workers say things like ‘that’s never happened here’ and ‘we haven’t had a serious injury or incident in forever’ or ‘we always have incidents like this, but no-one ever gets really badly hurt’.
While it is true that some workplaces can go for a long period of time before they experience a serious safety event that significantly harms a worker or damages property, is this a result of good risk management or good luck?
Good luck can include relying on workers’ judgement to do the right thing or a series of lucky escapes resulting in minor injuries only. Good risk management on the other hand means that your business has robust and documented procedures that ensure work is conducted in a safe and planned way and you have confidence by proactively checking in that your teams are working in line with your safe systems.
If something was to go seriously wrong and you think your business is relying primarily on good luck you are more likely to experience having to deal with significant harm to your employees and their families, reputational damage, loss or interruption of business operations and potentially serious business and/or personal legal consequences.
To replace good luck with good risk management practices, below are some tips:
Get an understanding of the hazards and risks present in your business and how your people and property can be harmed.
Ensure hazards and risks are removed from your business or suitable measures put in place to prevent risks resulting in harm.
Regularly check in and consult with your workers on whether safety improvements can be made (and implement them!).
Investigate and understand instances where things don’t go to plan.
Don’t sit back, be a proactive leader on health and safety in your business and make it something that is part of your everyday business practices.
If you don’t know where to start, get in touch for a no obligation consult or site visit.
Our partnership with The Safety Act on health and safety will help you understand gaps in your legal obligations and offer you practical solutions that give you confidence your people are safe, and your business operations are not compromised.
Contact details for The Safety Act:
022-671-5197
