Small Businesses Getting Confusing Information on Health and Safety
The Risk and Regulation Advisory Council (RRAC) report prepared by an advisory group formed by the Prime Minister has brought forth the prevalent lack of certainty and increasing confusion about health and safety among the smaller companies. The report states the reasons for such uncertainty and makes recommendations to rectify the situation.
The Council suggests that one of the prime reasons for such confusion is the difference in messages that are propagated by different sources like insurance firms, lawyers, media or even the administration targeting the smaller organizations. They are also caught in their own lack of confidence about risk management. The ‘risk mongers’, especially the health professionals and consultants, often use this to magnify the potential risk for smaller companies by claiming that a particular risk is more severe than it actually is, and thus make money out of their advice.
Sarah Veale of the RRAC pointed out that the most important of these reasons is that the smaller organizations get confused due to the mixed messages they receive on issues relating to health and safety, especially from the government, the insurance sector, lawyers and consultants. She said that small companies often fail to cater to the health and safety needs of employees or they end up spending more than what is required because of this confusion. The National General Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health is specially designed for facilities and health and safety managers – click on NEBOSH General – for information on courses which will help to understand the principles involved in managing safety and assessing potential hazards and benefit companies in achieving compliance with UK health and safety law.
The report makes a number of recommendations, including reforms in the legal system, whereby the regulatory as well as representative bodies of law like the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and the Law Society are made to ensure that the frivolous suits in this regard are checked by stricter guidelines. In case these guidelines prove to be ineffective, the Ministry of Justice has been requested to take action by enacting a statute governing the same.
The report recommends that the HSE should collaborate with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) to verify whether the insurers are providing proper services to their customers or merely increasing the uncertainty in their businesses.
