Your questions answered - March 24

I sometimes fear my senior management team don’t fully appreciate the importance of safety. How can I make sure they take more responsibility?

The most important thing to do is remind your leadership team of their own responsibilities for safety in their workplace. 

Even if your managers are not actively or deliberately ignoring safety in the workplace, they may not be fully aware of their legal duties, or do not appreciate the costs of inaction. They need to be persuaded of the importance of safety before it’s too late, and an accident changes their minds.

One way of helping your managers keep up to date is by sharing industry newsletters on health and safety, and exploring the potential impact on employees and the organisation’s reputation and standing with customers or clients, should something arise following a health and safety incident.

Above all, from a personal perspective, make sure that everything you do is properly documented so if there ever is an issue, you can show you did everything possible.

Can you explain the difference between a ‘competent’ person and a ‘responsible’ person.  

A ‘competent person’ has the skills, knowledge and experience to be able to recognise hazards in your business and alongside consultation with workers, help put sensible controls in place to protect workers and others from harm. The HSE explains that “the level of competence required will depend on the complexity of the situation and the particular help you need.”

The competent person therefore should have the experience in your sector to be familiar with the hazards and risks - and how to treat them - but need not necessarily be the person ultimately responsible (from a legal perspective) for safety.

This legally ‘responsible person’ will be the Director or Partner named in your Health and Safety policy. Although, obviously, all Directors, Managers, Supervisors and Employees have a statutory responsibility for safety in the workplace.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 defines the general duties of everyone from employers and employees to business owners, managers and more (eg. maintainers of work premises) as maintaining health and safety within the workplace. Employers hold accountability and responsibility; but, remember, employees hold responsibility to follow all training and safety instructions they receive.

I mainly work in a team but am often left on-site working alone. Does that make me a 'lone worker’ and what protection should I be given?

HSE defines lone workers as people “who work by themselves without close or direct supervision”. This could apply to delivery drivers, health workers or engineers, as security staff or cleaners, in warehouses or petrol stations, or at home. 

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, your employer must help manage your risks. They must ensure you are properly trained and monitored, and they must keep in touch with you and ensure they respond to any health or safety incident.

Additionally, employers must also recognise that working from home has the same health and safety responsibilities for homeworkers. Therefore, an employer must provide suitable levels of supervision, education and training for those homeworkers.

Don’t forget to submit YOUR questions to policy@britsafe.org