Download REHIS Journal 21/3 (Autumn 2009) - The Royal ...

Environmental Health Scotland
HSE LAU NEWS
by Tony Hetherington, Head of Local Authority Unit, Health and Safety Executive
This last quarter has seen the finalisation and launch
of HSE’s strategy, ‘The Health and Safety of Great
Britain - Be part of the solution’ and I’d like to reflect
a little on this document.
From my perspective one of the most important aspects
of the strategy was the recognition by Judith Hackitt
in her foreword that HSE and local authorities had
a ‘strong co-regulator partnership’. Whilst we
haven’t yet cracked every issue between HSE and
local authorities we now work together as equals and
respect the strengths that both sides bring to our
shared mission of reducing workplace accidents
and ill-health. As a result of the efforts and flexibility
of so many inspectors in both local authorities and
HSE, we have come a very long way in developing
our relationship since the strategy published in
2004 concluded that we needed to work together in
partnership. I’d like to take this opportunity to say
many thanks to all of you that have worked so hard to
make that vision a reality.
The strategy clearly signals that the HSE Board
wishes to see a new approach to the way we go about
securing improvements in workplace health and
safety. Of particular relevance to the way local
authorities go about this will be in the fields of
leadership, involving the workforce, building
competence and supporting small and medium sized
businesses. Work is underway to put more flesh
on these bones and incorporate these aspects into
inspection regimes. This will undoubtedly generate
some challenges, but I’m absolutely convinced that
the effort will pay dividends.
Undoubtedly, changes in approach will be needed
in order to respond to the strategy. However, I believe
the concerns expressed by some that inspectors
don’t know how to respond to the new approach
are unfounded. I have even heard it said that the
Fit3 priorities are no longer relevant and inspectors
will be asked to inspect for ‘leadership’. Nothing
could be further from the truth. The priorities for
action, slips and trips, falls, transport, etc…. remain
relevant and the same standards need to be achieved to
prevent accidents and ill-health. The questions at the
heart of any inspection will remain; is the business
achieving a satisfactory standard? If not, what do they
need to do to meet the standard?
How inspectors should then go about securing
improvement will focus on, at the most basic, ensuring
the commitment of those in charge of the business
to lead the necessary improvement, that they
should involve the workforce in identifying how
improvements can be identified and implemented.
In some businesses this may involve training for
managers, workers or both to build their competence.
And these issues will be particularly relevant in
small firms.
I am sure you will all recognise that these steps are
essential if a business is to improve and to sustain
necessary improvement and that as inspectors, you
already have a considerable toolkit of techniques
to achieve these ends. In responding to the strategy,
we intend to develop these techniques, expand the
range of new techniques and embed them all in
structured approaches to inspection. However, we
must never forget what we are ultimately about - driving
change for the better!
However, changes in approach to the strategy will
also go deeper than a simple restatement and
repackaging of the same old things. For example,
in relation to competence, this means making sure
everyone is competent to fulfil their role. Managers
must be competent to identify risk, develop control
measures and provide the leadership to make change
happen in the workplace. Workers must be competent
to carry out operations safely. Worker representatives
need to understand risk, to be able to communicate
with their fellow workers and represent their views
to managers. Consultants need to be competent in
matching their expertise to the needs of their clients
and providing advice that businesses can apply.
And, of course, we as inspectors must be competent
to bring all this together to improve standards in the
workplace.
We also need to look at how we engage with small
businesses - how we tailor guidance to the needs
of small businesses and how we ensure that they
can identify and access local, good quality advice.
This is an area where HSE can learn from local
authorities. Many authorities and professional bodies
like REHIS do great work in generating clear
practical guidance and delivering that guidance to those
who need it at the local level.
Work is in hand to develop new approaches
to inspection, both in the way it is done and who
might be the target of our inspections.
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