Outsourcing of h&s provision to grow in 2011?

CARDINUS Risk Management has revealed its health and safety predictions for the new year with a warning to companies outsourcing their H&S provision.

According to a senior Cardinus executive, there are risks involved with outsourcing health and safety and getting it wrong could mean long term reputational damage.

Jon Abbott, managing director of ergonomics and safety at Cardinus, said, “With the economy continuing to flounder, more organisations will begin to outsource their H&S provision. This can be a dangerous approach if not properly thought through. Issues that are not considered high-risk may not get the attention they need, so accidents may happen because companies have taken their eye off the ball. Any damage to a company's reputation caused in the short term could take years to mend.

“Companies that outsource for compliance reasons forget about the positive effects of health and safety. All the behaviour change cost savings, cost avoidance and productivity improvements may be lost as a result of a poorly-managed outsourcing programme.”