When someone uses the phrase “management system” it conjures up an image of an office full of clerks, busy filling in endless reams of paper, without anyone actually knowing what the end result is. This does not need to be the way, especially when it comes to health and safety, the object of the exercise is to have a system that works for your needs, one that not only gives you results but also achieves its objectives of keeping you and everyone else safe.

A health and safety management system can be as simple as a one page set of tick boxes, to make sure you haven’t forgotten something important, right up to an OHSAS 18001 system which not only controls everything you do with health and safety, but can be audited to an international standard as well as demonstrating that you are working to best practice. The important thing is that the system should do what you want or need it to do, it should not create procedures for the sake of it and should be clear in its results and observations.

Given that a health and safety management system can be simple, certainly shouldn’t be excessive and will produce clear results, what will we gain from having one and how much is it going to cost? There are some very simple answers to these questions:

What will we gain?

A safer working environment, Less absenteeism, Increased production, Happier workforce, Customer recognition, Peer recognition, Mitigation against legal costs, Defence against legislation breeches, Lower insurance costs & Access to additional work opportunities.

How much will it cost?

Debit:

Producing the system, Necessary capital expenditure (guarding etc), Training costs of personnel, Monitoring & auditing

Credit:

Less absenteeism, Increased production, Lower legal costs, Lower insurance costs, Mitigation against fines and claims, Maintenance of company reputation, Increased tendering opportunity

Taking all of the above, together with many more benefits, it can be seen that the reasons we bother are simple, a well produced health and safety management system will help you keep all around you safe thus avoiding absenteeism, lost production and legal claims against you, it will help you comply with current legislation avoiding legal costs, it will demonstrate to customers and your peers, that you are a company they would like to do business with, it can help keep your insurance costs down, maybe even reducing them and it could provide the conditions that will allow you to access many other tendering opportunities.

So, why bother?

Increased profitability

Increased reputation and profile

Happier, more productive workforce

Increased work opportunities

Legal compliance

Because it’s the right thing to do!

If you would like to know more about how effective a health and safety management system can be or to discuss any other matters relating to health and safety, then please contact us via our website at www.anchorhands.co.uk