The Importance of Study

A serious workplace injury or death changes lives forever for families, friends,
communities, and coworkers too. Human loss and suffering is immeasurable. Occupational
injuries and illnesses can provoke major crises for the families in which they occur. In
addition to major financial burdens, they can impose substantial time demands on uninjured
family members. Today, when many families are operating with very little free time, family
resources may be stretched to the breaking point.
Every person who leaves for work in the morning should expect to return home at night in
good health. Can you imagine the knock on the door to tell you your loved one will never be
returning home? Or the phone call to say hes in the hospital and may never walk again?
Ensuring that husbands return to their wives, wives to their husbands, parents to their
children, and friends to their friends that is the most important reason to create a safe and
healthy work environment.
But it isnt the only reason.

REDUCING INJURIES REDUCES COSTS TO YOUR BUSINESS:

If a worker is injured on the job, it costs the company in lost work hours, increased insurance
rates, workers compensation premiums and possible litigation. Productivity is lost when
other workers have to stop work to deal with the injury. Even after the injured employee has
been sent home or taken to the hospital, other employees may be distracted or need to take
time off from work in the aftermath of the incident. Even a single injury can have far-
reaching and debilitating effects on your business.

SAFE WORKERS ARE LOYAL WORKERS:

Any business knows that employee attrition and absenteeism can be major obstacles. When
you create a healthy and safe workplace, you reduce those issues in several ways. By
budgeting for safety improvements and making safety part of your operational plan, you
engender trust. By involving employees in safety decisionsthrough reporting, committees,
walk-throughs and meetingsyou show that their opinion matters to you. By following
through on their input and improving safety, you prove quite tangibly that you care about
their well-being. Workers typically respond by working harder, showing more pride in their
jobs and remaining loyal.

SAFETY IMPROVES QUALITY:

Time and again, companies that put safety first turn out higher quality products. In some
cases, thats because a safe workplace tends to be a more efficient one, free of debris and
tangles of cords. In other cases, its a matter of focus. By working in a clean, efficient
environment, workers are able to reduce distractions and truly focus on the quality of what
they do. The results? Better products that create customer loyalty, bigger margins and
increased sales.
In these ways and others workplace safety is about much more than legislation. Its about
creating the kind of productive, efficient, happy and inspiring workplace we all want to be
part of. Its about creating a highly profitable company. And thats why its important.
Underlying Principles
Attention to health and safety is not just about being socially responsible. It also makes good
business sense and you should regard it as just as important as the achievement of any other
key business objective.
Of course, working out what modern health and safety law means for your business can be
quite a headache. But don't be put off. Yes, on the face of it there do seem to be a lot of
regulations and there is a lot of supporting guidance, but the underlying principles are really
quite straightforward.
Essentially you have to ensure absence of risk to safety and health of employees and others
'so far as is reasonably practicable'.

System in place to Manage Health & Safety

You have to have a system (e.g. have a policy, designate people and have clear
procedures) in place to manage health and safety (and, if you employ more than five
people, set this out in a written health and safety policy statement). You need to be
able to show how you plan, organise, control, monitor and review preventative
measures. And you need to appoint a competent person(s) to help you comply with
your legal obligations.

Identify hazards
You have to identify your main hazards (things that could cause harm).

Assess Risk
You have to assess your risks (the probability that significant harm will occur) and
again, if you employ more than five, record the results of your assessment.

Risk assessment is the key to working out what needs to be done - but don't make it
over-complicated. Remember, although you have to do it by law, it is really only any
use if it can be used as a working tool - to help you prove to yourself and your
employees that you have identified the main things in your business which could
cause harm and that you are doing everything you should to prevent that harm from
happening.

Risk Control Measures

You have to make sure that your risk control measures are adequate and that they are
used and maintained and that they continue to work. (You also have to put in place
any back up measures that may be needed like health surveillance or emergency
procedures). And you have to inform, train and supervise employees.

For the most part the law sets out certain health and safety goals to be achieved and
indicates appropriate 'benchmarks' to help you work out whether your controls are up
to 'reasonably practicable' standards. There is an underlying requirement to reduce or
eliminate hazards at source, or isolate people from them (for example, by guarding
machinery) before using other forms of control. Relying on the use of personal
protective equipment - like respirators or protective footwear - is a last resort and is
only acceptable when all other options have failed.

You also have to:

 o report and record accidents;
o provide certain basic workplace, first aid and welfare facilities;
o have employers' liability insurance;
o notify the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Local Authority of your
existence;
o consult your workforce and their representatives; and so on.

Risk Control Measures

For the most part the law sets out certain health and safety goals to be achieved and indicates
appropriate 'benchmarks' to help you work out whether your controls are up to 'reasonably
practicable' standards. There is an underlying requirement to reduce or eliminate hazards at
source, or isolate people from them (for example, by guarding machinery) before using other
forms of control. Relying on the use of personal protective equipment - like respirators or
protective footwear - is a last resort and is only acceptable when all other options have failed.