On 7 April 2023 ̶ World Health Day ̶ the World Health Organization (WHO) will observe its 75th anniversary. In 1948, countries of the world came together and founded WHO to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable – so everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health and wellbeing. WHO’s 75th anniversary year is an opportunity to look at the workplace and the reasons for managing health and safety. In this briefing, International Workplace's health and safety trainer, Kate Gardner, considers why health and safety is about more than responsibility.

Many organisations view ‘good’ health and safety as simply the absence of any serious accidents. But this is a very narrow definition. The term ‘safety’ implies ‘being safe, freedom from risk or danger’. But health is also an important issue at work. Everyone can recognise that, if an employee bypasses a guard to a machine, the employee’s safety is put at risk. However, the fact that the employee may be working in a poorly ventilated room where hazardous fumes are present may be ignored. Also, many work-related health effects take a long time to be realised. The use of asbestos in the 1950s and 1960s is a good example, where the ill effects of working with it did not emerge until 20 to 30 years later. Of course, health and safety isn’t just relevant in hazardous industries such as construction, or where people may come into contact with dangerous substances or working practices.

Even what might seem like low-hazard workplaces have health and safety risks. Perhaps you work in an office, or a shop, and have limited exposure to hazardous activities. Remember, there are still things like electricity, and places to slip and trip. Perhaps you have a stressful job, or difficult and demanding colleagues. Perhaps your company is too busy keeping up with market demands to consider health and safety…

The reasons for health and safety management
Managing health and safety is about more than responsibility. That falls on everyone’s shoulders.

Responsibility for managing health and safety – your own, and other people whom you manage, supervise or look after – can fall into three distinct categories:

• Moral
• Financial
• Legal

Moral
All of us have a general moral duty of care to each other. No one likes to see other people being injured, made ill or affected by anything that is dangerous. A responsible employer would expect that their employees can work safely and not be affected by their work – and that at the end of the day, the employee will return home in the same condition in which they arrived to work. This moral duty also extends to any other people who may be affected by the workplace or activities carried out (e.g. contractors, visitors and members of the public). Furthermore, the duty extends to protecting the environment.

Financial
Where health and safety laws are breached, an enforcement authority may decide to prosecute, and if found guilty a company can face a fine or individuals a prison sentence. If sufficiently serious, the fines can be unlimited, and may also include remedial and publicity orders. In England and Wales, offences that are tried in a Magistrates’ Court now carry an unlimited fine or imprisonment up to six months. For serious matters that go to a Crown Court and are tried before a judge and jury, an individual can be handed either an unlimited fine, up to two years’ imprisonment, or both. Paying fines imposed by the courts and settling compensation claims are two obvious costs. But there will be additional costs that are often not so easy to see – lawyers’ fees, specialist reports, experts’ opinions – and the cost of having people working on the case and not doing their normal duties will almost certainly have to be met. Adverse publicity can also seriously affect the organisation in terms of image, public relations, loss of customers, loss of potential orders, etc. An injured party may not be able to return to their normal duties, and therefore the organisation may have lost a valuable member of the team. Retraining may be necessary after an accident, if it is found that employees were previously untrained or not aware of the safety rules. A change may need to be made in the way activities are carried out, to prevent another incident occurring.

Legal
Health and safety legislation affects all organisations. If something goes wrong, there is always the potential for someone to be prosecuted. Prosecution results in a court appearance, and if found guilty, a fine may be imposed. Employers also have a general duty of care to protect employees and other persons from hazardous activities in the workplace. If an employee is injured as a result of the work that is carried out, they may be entitled to make a claim for compensation. In some countries it is a legal requirement to report on and record occurrences of dangerous occurrences, injuries and diseases. Reporting requirements vary, however, and in some countries there is no legal obligation to report. Indeed, in the UK there is no actual legal requirement to investigate accidents. Many accidents often go unrecorded even when there is a legal obligation to do so. Where a country does have occupational safety and health laws in place, this may include a requirement to record and report on workplace incidents and diseases and notify the enforcing authorities.

Reportable incidents can differ, depending on local laws and regulations, but may include:

• Occupational deaths;
• Specified types of non-fatal occupational injuries;
• Occupational diseases; and
• Dangerous occurrences.

In some countries there may also be a requirement to report injuries that involve absence from the workplace above a specified number of days – for example, in the UK, the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) require if an employee is off work for seven or more days the accident or incident must be reported.

Further guidance and sources of help and information are available in International Workplace’s downloadable guide: The Moral, Legal and Financial reasons for Managing Safely

International Workplace’s IOSH Managing Safely course covers:

• Basic principles of health and safety – moral, financial and legal
• Concept of safety management – using the Plan/ Do/Check/Act model
• Importance of health and safety strategy, plans and objectives
• Management of occupational risk – risk profiling
• The legal framework – criminal and civil, corporate manslaughter, corporate and personal liabilities
• Enforcement arrangements
• Safety leadership – key actions a senior manager can take
• Reviewing your health and safety performance and risk management arrangements

Find out more about the course at: www.internationalworkplace.com/iosh-training/managing-safely