Dont Put H&S on a Pedestal

Businesses should be proud of good productivity and profit; without it they wouldn’t survive, and Health and Safety should hold the same level of importance as any other area such as accounting and finance. A smart business makes sure that health and safety are integral to the way they work and in this episode Colin explores some of the ways companies are effective in creating and operating an inclusive Health and Safety environment.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Smart businesses understand health and safety is as important as finance, profit and productivity. It means you spend as much time talking about health and safety as you do other topics. Some companies put it on every meeting agenda, but this is compartmentalising it and in reality, there are health and safety concerns in everything we do. Health and safety are often seen as operational issues so spread it into non-operational areas and encourage and enable other teams to discuss any and all health and safety implications across the work environment and operation. Assessing risk is vital for any business. Look at all the hazards and ask others how well they think they are being controlled in the workplace. This information will form an action plan that you can then move forward with. Get a good understanding of what risks you have in your business. if you spend time looking at your risk profile and the procedures you have in place you will be spending a comparable time on health and safety If you can understand your business, its risks and what it faces you can get control in place   BEST MOMENTS ‘The businesses that treat it with equal importance get things right’ ‘They didn’t have anything in the middle, they hadn’t thought about it’ ‘These guys had overlooked it and it was a risk’ ‘Encourage all people to think about how others are working’   VALUABLE RESOURCES  The Interesting Health& Safety Podcast   ABOUT THE HOST Colin’s Biography   ‘Making health and safety as important as everything else we do.’ This is the belief that Colin is passionate about and through his consultancy Influential Management Group (IMG) is able to spread into the industry. Colin works at a strategic level with company owners and board members. He helps business leaders establish and achieve their health and safety ambitions. He has developed a number of leading competency improvement programmes that are delivered across industry and his strengths are his ability to take a practical approach to problem-solving and being able to liaise at all levels within an organisation. Colin also runs a company that vets contractors online and a network that develops and support H&S consultancies to become better businesses. Colin chairs the Construction Dust Partnership, an industry collaboration directly involving many organisations, including the Health and Safety Executive. He is a Post Graduate Tutor at Strathclyde University and a highly sought-after health and safety speaker and trainer. He has a Post Graduate Certificate in Safety and Risk management, an engineering degree and is a Chartered Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).