As a manager, one of your responsibilities is the burden of health and safety. Many people feel that health and safety has gone too far into the ridiculous and perhaps sometimes they are right. Regardless of your feelings about health and safety it is your responsibility to get it right and if you do not then there may be dire consequences. Is health and safety in the office truly important or can it be dismissed as the over-protective nanny state?

In a previous office I worked at there was a small kitchen with a tea cup trolley parked outside. The area was well lit and there had never been any previous problems. One woman decided to complain that the tea cup trolley made the area dangerous as people could trip over it. The manager was forced to move the trolley although the woman herself earned a few behind the cuff sniggers for her trouble. The point is that different people see danger in different ways. Some will laugh and see it as over protective and even ridiculous while other people see danger at every turn and want it taken seriously.

As well as cautious people who notice danger and want it dealt with, there are plenty of people who will take advantage of an accident to receive compensation. Some claims are no doubt valid, but it is worth remembering that there are many law firms begging for a chance to take you to court. Many of them win, especially if the company are seen to have failed in their health and safety duties. The compensation culture of today is a way for people to take less responsibility for themselves and their own actions. Instead if something goes wrong then they will look for someone else to blame. If you have not taken your responsibilities seriously then they may well find that you are to blame.

Modern managers must consider health and safety in two respects. The first is the responsibility to the people they employ. Nobody wants to return to the days when life was cheap and work risky. A safe working environment with adequate and appropriate safety procedures is the legal right of every UK employee. The second respect is the self-preservation of the company. Since a law suit can be an expensive process, it is necessary to protect the company by managing the health and safety needs. While health and safety of employees is one concern, another is that of any visitors and clients that may use your facility.

As a manager it is up to you to put in place health and safety procedures and carry out risk assessments, but how is this best achieved? One place to start is to look into the official guidelines regarding health and safety. This covers a range of elements including ventilation and temperature of the workplace, cleanliness and lighting. Examining these guidelines thoroughly will give you an idea on what kind of things health and safety covers. Just because someone has not suffered an accident or been taken ill as a result of poor safety conditions does not mean they will not in the future. Guidelines and information can be found on the website of the Health and Safety Executive; http://www.hse.gov.uk/

A lot of managing health and safety is about assessing the risk and acting accordingly. Look at the everyday working life and procedures of your staff and find out where there may be a risk or problem and search for a solution. For example, if you have people who work in a cold environment, perhaps in a freezer warehouse, then there would be a health risk from the excessive cold. The action would be to provide them with safety training and protective clothing. It is not only manual labour risks, but emotional risks that must be covered. If continual workplace stress is a factor then this can seriously affect the health of your worker. Action must be taken to help reduce this stress.

The bottom line is that health and safety is a vitally important part of modern management in order to protect yourself, your company, your clients and your staff. Managing it properly before you get sued is the best way forward! Strike a balance and be sensible in your approach. There is no need to get overly complicated since nobody wants to sit through a four day lecture on how to lift things properly. Make sure that health and safety basics are covered in the induction such as the fire exits and procedures. Ensure that risk assessments are carried out regularly and individually to protect the staff.