Managing Safety and Health

Managing for safety and health is about:

• Looking after business or organisation
• Looking after people
• Looking after reputation

Safety and Health and successful business or organisation performance are complementary. Good leaders look after their businesses/organisations, and manage skilled workforces who have confidence in them.

 

As with all parts of your business/organisation practice, to manage health and safety you need to plan, deliver, check quality and take stock to see what you can improve.

 

This is the approach taken to prevent ill health and accidents. It is about the priority of health and safety in the business; it should be the no 1 value. You should consider it to be part of the way you normally operate the business, “the way things are done around here”. It can be a plan, do, check and act/learn approach, in larger businesses it’s sometimes a separate h/s management system. Whichever way, it will need the support of the people in the business.

What does a business leader need to do to have a healthy workforce?

1. Firstly identify your risks: see risk profiling
2. Secondly take stock of how you now stand with your workforce, use questions below
3. Thirdly assess the risks using these risk assessment guides
4. Fourthly draw up a plan using this approach or system:

• Plan: say what you want to happen
• Do: make sure there are systems in place to provide the tools and equipment to do the job
• Check: Make sure the work is being done safely
• Act and Learn: listen to problems and successes and make improvements