Affordable, Professional, Personal Health and Safety Compliance

The phrase ‘in safe hands’, is often used to give a secure feeling to someone, in other words “if you put your trust in the person or organisation, nothing will go wrong”.

You may have seen the phrase being used in a recent advertising campaign by a well known glazing company featuring David Seaman, the former Arsenal and England goalkeeper. Many employees, but not all, feel in safe hands when in their place of work but this has not always been the case.

Lessons have been learned from too many tragic industrial accidents over the last 190 years and the reason for using this number is that in 1833, the first Factory Inspectors, were appointed by King William IV hence the term HM Inspectors.

HSE Inspectors Reduction

Fast forward to 2023 and according to the HSE annual report 2021/22, there are 1,018 HSE Inspectors in the UK, a slight reduction on the previous year and a near 25% reduction from the 1,342 employed in 2010 before austerity cuts.

Many will argue that the civil service including HSE needed slimming down back in 2010 and will point to the much larger numbers of safety professionals employed by organisations and the ongoing reduction in
serious accidents.

One important point to make about being in ‘Safe Hands’ and learning from mistakes, is that accident investigations are vitally important so that organisations keep learning from mistakes made and as a result improve safety performance. For this to happen we need good competent safety professionals
embedded in workplaces as well as a well-resourced safety regulator willing to step in when needed to enforce the law.

Preventing workplace accidents is vital to ensure the safety of employees and the public as well as ensuring that our businesses and public services are productive and efficient.

Importance of Accident Investigation

Accident investigation and learning lessons is something that many large successful organisations do well, and by learning from accidents we can continuously improve processes, a theme that runs through many of the ISO Standards.

Small and medium sized organisations can also benefit from incident investigations and to help guide those who have some health & safety responsibilities in the workplace, ‘The HSE’ published ‘Investigating
Accidents and Incidents (HSG 245)’ which is a step-by-step guide for best practice and is particularly useful for non-safety professionals.

For Arinite customers we produce an Arinite Factsheet ‘0011 Accident Investigation’ which is available to download.

So next time you here the phrase ‘you’re in safe hands’ maybe think about how that company or organisation is able to make that statement. Is it because they have a great health & safety arrangement in place, with competent people, good culture, good reporting and investigation arrangements among other things or is it a selling point with little to back it up?

Contact us

Arinite clients worldwide appreciate we provide practical, no-nonsense advice about what
you need to do to establish and maintain a safe and healthy working environment.
Our team of health and safety consultants take pride in keeping health and safety simple.

If you need to call upon our expert assistance, or just for an informal chat, please call our
office +44 207 947 9581, or type an enquiry to: https://www.arinite.com/contact-us/.

Derek McStea