The Top 6 Pitfalls of Health and Safety Management

Managing health and safety can be challenging; but it’s not nearly as complicated or time-consuming as you might think, as the biggest pitfall of all is to ignore this important issue and rely on luck.

Managing health and safety can be challenging; but it’s not nearly as complicated or time-consuming as you might think, as the biggest pitfall of all is to ignore this important issue and rely on luck. Let’s look at some of the pitfalls you may face.

1. Don’t ignore health and safety
Managing health and safety is a fact of life, there is no opting out; it must be dealt with and dealt with efficiently. Health and safety in the workplace protects both employers and employees and there are benefits when health and safety is managed effectively. Often this means changes in operational activities; but most often the biggest will be one of culture change within the organisation.

2. Failure to appoint a responsible person
Health and safety in an organisation will not manage itself; someone must be responsible for it. By designating a dedicated resource, with sufficient training and experience, responsible for the maintenance and running of the health and safety management systems management will remain informed on all issues of health and safety within the organisation – including findings and assessment of hazards and risks found within the working environment.

3. Failure to carry out risk assessment
As an employer, you must identify and manage the health and safety risks within your organisation. Risk assessments are critical to identifying the hazards that exist and the people who they may impact. Once identified, the risks must be managed and controlled, and appropriate measures to minimise these risks need to be put in place. Risk assessments will also verify the effectiveness of the safety measures and procedures already in place.

4. Failure to involve the workforce in health and safety
Consultation and involvement of employees are essential on matters regarding health and safety in the workplace. Employees are very often more aware of workplace hazards and the risks they pose, and it is for this reason that consultation is an important management tool. Many organisations will have an appointed health and safety representative, chosen by the employees, who will work closely with the company’s responsible person in an effort to manage and monitor health and safety.

5. Inadequate training is a major cause of health and safety failings
All employees should be adequately trained for the duties they are expected to perform, and this training must extend to health and safety in the working environment. Some working environments and processes will pose a number of hazards and risks to the employee, and each should be addressed separately. Carrying out an initial process and activity risk assessment enables employers to inform employees during employment induction of identified hazards and risks, and the measures implemented to create a safe working environment.

6. Health and safety policy and record keeping in general
Most responsible organisations openly declare their commitment to health and safety with the creation and issue of a health and safety policy. An organisation’s health and safety policy describes how it will manage health and safety within the company, as it lets staff and others know about its commitment to health and safety and its plans to provide a safe working environment for everyone who may be affected by the company’s activities.

Many organisations turn to technology solutions in order to meet the risks highlighted by their health and safety practices. Locate Global is a workforce safety platform that allows employers to locate, monitor communicate and respond to employees should an emergency arise. We specialise in safety management – book a demo with us here to find out more.