Let health and safety work for your firm
Comments |
"Health and safety" is often given as an excuse why
something cannot be done - it is today's bete noir, with safety
regulations seen as unnecessarily restrictive and burdensome.
Both businesses and members of the public find this subject an
example of how regulations seem to dominate whatever they undertake
these days.
The opposite is true maintains Steve Gerring, founder of health
and safety training and consultancy firm Medway Safety Ltd.
He said: "Safety is really common sense. The aim of our company
is to give sound, practical and cost-effective advice on health and
safety issues, using jargon-free plain English. We endeavour to
help people to find the best solution when all relevant factors
have been considered."
This approach can best be illustrated in a course developed by
Chatham-based Medway Safety for a local government initiative to
support local residents and active citizens within their
communities. Organised by Medway Council and Medway Voice, with the
support of SEREP (South East Regional Empowerment Partnership) and
Kent Police, these "Community Champions" workshops are aimed at
local groups and clubs, as well as individual residents.
Six different topics covering key skills are covered by the
programme including fundraising, organising successful events,
sharing the workload, wheeling and dealing, tools to build your
community, as well as health and safety. And, unlike the customised
courses developed by Medway Safety for businesses and
organisations, the audience for this course was to be members of
the public.
The organisers knew that health and safety needed to be covered
but that the mere mention of those words could be a complete
turn-off, however necessary the subject. The intended audience was
likely to include those running community organisations which
employ people, a diverse range of volunteers such as residents
associations that organise activities such as rubbish clearances
and also individuals arranging small-scale fundraising events. It
would be a challenge to engage them.
Mr Gerring said: "We worked hard to avoid the words 'health' and
'safety', in devising the course and developed modules such as
'eliminate and avoid' where we covered everyday hazards and how to
avoid them - commonly known as 'risk assessment'. Other modules
dealt with common first aid issues (blood and gore), lone working
(alone in the dark) and organising an event (failing to plan).
The programme started in May and will continue throughout the
summer. Feedback has been positive so far and Medway Council and
Medway Voice are expecting interest to increase as word gets out
about these workshops.
n Medway Voice is a free membership-led organisation open to the
community and voluntary sectors in Medway. More information on
www.medwayvoice.org.uk
Contact Medway Voice on 01634 814146 or at
admin@medwayvoice.org.uk for more information about the health and
safety workshop, or the wider Community Champions programme.
n Medway Safety Ltd is an award-winning health and safety
training and consultancy company based in Chatham. More information
on www.medwaysafety.co.uk
Contact Medway Safety on 0845 269 5550 or
info@medwaysafety.co.uk
Thursday, July 28 2011
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