Health and safety again becomes a political football

In a major speech this month David Cameron pledged to crack down on Britain’s excessive health and safety rules and regulations which he described as “the great knot of rules, regulations, expectations, and fears that I would call the over-the-top health and safety culture”.

Cameron, in his quest for votes, surely had the wrong profession in his sights. The media which perpetuate the myth that somehow health and safety is to blame for much of society’s ills, should surely be his target for its part in falsely reporting on health and safety issues.

However, he actually highlighted an important cultural issue by announcing that something has gone seriously wrong with the spirit of health and safety in the past decade. He acknowledged that the biggest problem is the way health and safety rules are interpreted and applied, and attacked the commercialisation of lawyers’ incentives to generate litigation and the growth of ‘ambulance-chasing’. He said “Businesses, organisations and individuals operate under the shadow of the worst-case scenario. The more vulnerable they feel, the more cautiously they act – and the more stringent their health and safety processes become.”

Reaction to the speech has been varied. Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC said that employers were not over zealous in their application of health and safety regulation and the figure of over 246,000 people being injured at work last year indicates the opposite. He added that in the UK we had more health and safety regulation 35 years ago than we do today and regulation today is simpler and easier to understand

IOSH (Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) welcomed the opportunity to move away from a culture of blame to one that’s based on better risk intelligence and said it would welcome any serious debate about risk and responsibility.

St John Ambulance, also welcomed the debate Cameron has opened saying as it stands at the moment, there is a great deal of confusion about the regulations. All of us working in health and safety need to do more to make clear how they should be interpreted. Organisations want to do the right thing, but don’t always know how. Somehow common sense gets lost, and we end up with the stories we all see about ‘health and safety gone mad’.

For more information on risk management and for expert business insurance advice, speak to Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers on 01603 218000, or visit our web site – http://www.alanboswell.com/risk-management/

Managing Risk for Work Experience Placements

John Neil, Risk Management Consultant at business insurance specialists Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers, looks at the things businesses need to think about when they take on young people as part of a work experience programme.
It's back to school time and for many year 10 and 11 students this means getting ready for work experience. These workplace visits can be a bit of a health and safety minefield for businesses...
There's a lot to think about when a child arrives at your business premises from a local school for a short period of work experience. All too often young people are involved in accidents and experience shows that they must be carefully managed and supervised whilst on a work experience placement.

One thing you may not realise is there are a few extra health and safety regulations when employing people under the age of 18 and far as health and safety law goes, students on work experience placements are employees.

The main thing to note is you must assess the risks to anyone under 18 years old before they start work experience. You must also tell the young person what these risks are.

There's no need for a new risk assessment every time someone arrives for work experience. A generic assessment covering young workers is fine, so long as it's relevant however the assessments needs to take into account the young people's "psychological or physical immaturity, inexperience, and lack of awareness of existing or potential risks."

Of course, as with all risk assessments, employers have to follow up with some control measures.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations include an additional requirement which prohibits the employment of young people where the risk assessment identifies harmful exposure to toxic substances, radiation, extreme cold or heat, vibration, noise, work which is considered beyond their physical or physiological capacity, or work where the risk of accidents will not be recognised by young people, because of their carelessness, lack of experience, training or awareness. There are also some specific prohibitions on the employment of young persons in certain trades or the use of particular plant and machinery.

There is one other regulation worth noting. This applies to children below the minimum school leaving age. Here, parents or carers must be told about the findings of the risk assessment and the control measures being put in place before the child starts work experience.

For more information on risk management and for expert business insurance advice, speak to Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers on 01603 218000, or visit our web site – http://www.alanboswell.com/risk-management/

Publicans urged to review overheads as recession bites

With recent reports showing that pubs are closing their doors at the alarming rate of 39 per week, there has never been a better time for publicans to review their overheads with a view to improving profitability. The double whammy of falling sales and rising costs might seem insurmountable for hard-pressed publicans. But research shows that there’s still much that pubs can do to ensure survival in times of recession.

Attracting new customers and increasing sales is obviously important. But reducing overheads is perhaps a quicker and easier way to have an impact on the bottom line. A recent survey of 2,675 pubs by the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) indicated that they spend an average of 53% of turnover on controllable costs. About 27% goes on wages and 11% on premises, excluding rent.

Publicans should take a hard look at where the money goes and see if they are getting good value. The good news is that savings are there to be had. For example, data from pub insurance specialists Alan Boswell Group has shown that pub insurance premiums have dropped by about 8.5% in the past two years. According to the broker, the average premium paid by pubs it insures is now around £1,050. That figure is about 30% lower than it was in 2005.

Jon Preston, who deals with our pub insurance scheme, commented, “There are more insurers fighting for a reducing number of pubs, and the competition in the market is more intense than ever. Publicans with a good track record and a decent claims record can expect to save money if they shop around.”

Publicans should not be tempted to skimp on insurance cover. It’s important to get the balance right; saving money simply by cutting down on your protection is a risky approach. Getting the wrong cover for your pub, or using an insurer with poor claims handling processes could finish off a business that’s been weakened by the poor economic climate. As ever, getting independent advice from a broker seems like the best route. The busy publican can effectively out-source the insurance procurement process to their insurance broker.