Effective Health & Safety

Management

Kev Coghill MIOSH RSP

Senior Risk Consultant
Marsh Risk Consulting Practice

Objectives
Introduce

the UK H&S legal regime

Appreciate why H&S is important
Understand the risk assessment process
Summarise current hot topics - e.g. field
trips/stress/noise
Recognise why H&S should be managed

So why bother with H&S?

Pain and
suffering
Duty to fellow
human being

Legal

Fines and costs

Court time
Civil cases
Notices

Moral
Business
Premiums
Uninsured losses
Reputation
Morale
Productivity

2003/04 Statistics
235

fatalities
159,809 RIDDOR reported injuries
An estimated 2.2 million people suffering
from an illness caused or made worse by their
current or past work
An estimated 39 million working days lost 30 million due to ill health & 9 million due to
injury

UK legal system
Criminal

Civil

By HSE or LA

By injured person

Leads to a
fine/imprisonment

Leads to award of
damages

Not insurable

Must be insured

Legal process

British Law

Criminal

Someone

Civil

is injured at work or by people at

work
They make a civil claim for compensation
(damages)
The HSE or local authority prosecute on
behalf of the state (fine/imprisonment)

Health and Safety at Work etc

Act 1974
Duties on all at
work

To protect all
affected by work

Pre 1974 Legislation

Factories Act
1961

OSRP Act
1963

Other Safety
Acts

Regulations

Regulations

Regulations

Post 1974 Legislation

HASAWA 1974

Regulations
A.C.O.Ps
Factories Act
1961

OSRP Act
1963

Other Safety
Acts

Regulations

Regulations

Regulations

Legal Requirements
Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974
Management of Health & Safety at Work
Regulations 1999

Failure to comply is a criminal act

Employers CANNOT insure against failure
to comply

Section 2
Section 2(1) - employers general duty

Duty to ensure so far as is reasonably

practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work
of employees and any others who may be affected
by the undertaking.

Legal Standards
Reasonably Practicable or SFARP
Implies

a weighing up of the risk against the cost

(in terms of time, money or trouble) of preventing
or controlling the risk

Section 2 (cont.)
Provision

of such information, instruction, training

and supervision as is necessary to ensure , SFARP,
the health and safety at work of employees and
any others who may be affected.

Section 2 (cont.)
Duty of Employers to Employees cont.
2.2a - safe plant and systems of work
2.2b - safe use, handling, storage and transportation of
articles and substances
2.2c - information, instruction, training and adequate
supervision
2.2d - safe place of work and a safe means of access and
egress
2.2e - safe working environment and adequate welfare
facilities

Section 7
Duty of Employees at Work
It shall be the duty of every employee whilst at work: to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and
of any other person who may be affected by their acts or
omissions
to co-operate with their employer so far as is necessary to
enable that employer to meet their requirements with
regards to any statutory provisions

Section 21
Improvement Notices
If an inspector is of the opinion that a person: is contravening one or more of the relevant
statutory provisions; or
has contravened one or more of those statutory
provisions, in circumstances that it is likely that
the contravention will continue or be repeated,
then he will issue an Improvement Notice.

Section 22
Prohibition Notices
If any activity is being, or is about to be, carried
out that could result in serious personal injury,
then an inspector may issue a Prohibition Notice.
This notice will cause the immediate cessation of
the activity involved until all measures are
rectified.

Enforcement
The HSE can take legal action against an
employer/employee in a criminal court for H&S
failures:
Unlimited fine and/or
Custodial sentence
(Remember - you cannot insure against failure to
comply with H&S legislation)
If guilty = criminal record

British Justice
INNOCENT
until proven
GUILTY
beyond
ALL
REASONABLE
DOUBT

Civil Litigation
Provides for compensation to be paid to persons
who suffer harm as a result of a work activity.
Can insure - Employers Liability Insurance
Burden of proof is NEGLIGENCE
Proof is on the balance of probabilities
Effectively guilty until you prove your
innocence

Reportable
Reporting of:
Injuries (accidents & incidents)
Disease
Dangerous Occurrences
(Regulations)

Accident/Incident Investigation
RIDDOR

only requires reporting of

incidents etc.
No explicit legal requirement in any H&S
legislation to investigate - therefore WHY
DO IT?

Accident/Incident Investigation
HSW Act

states - employers must

ensure.the health, safety and welfare of
employees... etc.
Reactive monitoring - to prevent the same or
similar from happening again
Review/revise risk assessments and
associated H&S documentation/working
practices

The Management Of Health &

Safety At Work Regulations
1999

Management of H&S Regs

Risk Assessments
Every

employer shall make a suitable and

sufficient assessment of risks to the health and
safety: of his employees
of persons not in his employment

Management of H&S Regs

Suitable & Sufficient
Should

enable the employer to identify and

prioritise the measures that need to be taken

Should

identify the significant risks arising out of

or as a result of the work activity

Management of H&S Regs

(Definitions)
HAZARD
RISK
HARM
TAKEN FROM THE MHSWR APPROVED CODE OF PRACTICE 1999

Management of H&S Regs

What is a Hazard ?
Something

with the potential to cause

harm
May be chemical, mechanical,electrical,
environmental etc. OR "Human" in nature

Management of H&S Regs

What is a Risk ?
'Risk

expresses the likelihood that harm

from a particular hazard is realised'
Risk therefore reflects both the likelihood
that harm will be caused and its severity

Management of H&S Regs

What is Harm?
HARM = death, bodily injury and damage to
physical or mental health.
Safety law is only concerned with harm to
property or the environment if that entails a risk of
harm to people.
Now consider risk ranking

Risk Ranking - Probability

Measurement of frequency/likelihood
3 Categories :
Frequent

Occasional

Rare

Likelihood of incident recurring

repeatedly during course of the
work activity

Likelihood of incident occurring

sometime during course of the
work activity

Likelihood of incident virtually

never occurring during course
of the work activity

Risk Ranking - Consequence

Measurement of severity
3 Categories :
Severe

Moderate

Minor

May lead to lost-time or

recordable incident

May lead to recordable or firstaid incident

May result in minor first-aid

treatment or no harm being
caused

Risk Assessment Matrix

Risk = Probability x Consequence
(Severity)
Severe
Moderate
Frequent
(3)
Occasional
(2)
Rare
(1)

(3)

(2)

Minor
(1)

Existing Control Measurers

Assess

your existing control measures

Take

into account whether controls are

being applied / complied with etc.

If

there are no controls, enter this on the

assessment

Required Actions
What
What is to be undertaken

Who
Who is charged with undertaking the action

By

When
Action target date

Completion

confirmed [Formalised]
Action completion date

Review
Assessment

Review date
Remember that the required actions progress must
be monitored to ensure that the actions are carried
out and are effective.
A review should be undertaken following the
implementation of the improved controls to assess
the effectiveness and ensure other new risks have
not evolved from these actions

Reviewing cont.
Legal

requirement
Reason to suspect no longer valid
Significant change
Think systems approach to constant
monitoring and review

Risk Control Hierarchy

Hierarchy

of risk controls

Eliminate hazard at source

Reduce hazard at source
Remove person from hazard
Contain hazard by enclosure
Reduce employee exposure
Systems of work
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
* pay attention to order*

Hot Topics
Stress
Field

trips
Noise
Occupational road safety

Stress
Should

be considered under Management

Regs & risk assessment
HSE published Management standards for
tackling work related stress
First improvement notice issued this year to
a NHS Trust for failing to assess stress risks

Field Trips
Management

Regs risk assessment

requirement
Popular item for press when something goes
wrong
Require detailed management plans obviously dependent upon each trip

Noise
Existing

Noise at Work Regs set levels at

85dBA & 90dBA
New Physical Agents Directive to be
incorporated into UK legal regime by
15/02/06 - noise levels reduced to 80dBA &
85dBA

Occupational Road Safety

Currently

on the HSE top 10 inspection

topics
Traditionally excluded from any statistics
because it is Road Traffic Act & therefore
the police who enforce
Now looking at all work related driving excluding commuting to/from work

Health & Safety Management

HSG65
Policy

Organising

Auditing

Planning and
Implementing
Measuring
Performance
Reviewing
Performance

Organising
Split

into four sections, four Cs

Co-operation
Communication
Control
Competence

Planning & Implementing

Objectives/Actions should be - SMART

Specific
Measurable
Ambitious & agreed
Relevant
Tied to a timetable

Measuring Performance
Important

management tool
Use work already being done
Risk assessment
Active monitoring
Accident/incident data
Detailed techniques in BS 8800/OHSAS 18001
Implementing goes back to effective
communication

Review & Audit

Remember

systems theory - monitor and review

(audit and feedback)
Helps to determine whether actions have been
achieved and if so, what new ones should be set
Once review completed - communicate findings
and remember both positive and negative feedback
Set new SMART objectives

Poor Communication...

Well this certainly buggers up

our plans to conquer the
Universe