It may be noted that we manage Health and Safety in the workplace for three main reasons:
Financial, Economic, Moral
Financial and economic reasons are very much linked but the moral issue from the entire workplace perspective is I feel a critical element of this process. This then leads me to the burning issue of workplace health and safety “Culture”. In order for a culture to bud, flower, flourish and maintain itself, strong, open, cooperative and directional leadership is a must. All senior managers must be aware of their role here as must middle managers and all supervisors and team leads. At a practiced level however, this is not always the case… I would ask you as a result to honestly consider the following questions:
- As a senior manager in the workplace, do you fully understand your responsibilities under the current health and safety legislation?
- As a manager in the workplace, do you fully understand your responsibilities under the current health and safety legislation?
- As an employee in the workplace, do you fully understand your responsibilities under the current health and safety legislation?
For more information, please feel free to contact us.
More information can also be found at:
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2005/en/act/pub/0010/sec0013.html
http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Topics/Managing_Health_and_Safety/Safety,_Health_and_Welfare_at_Work_Act_2005/
* Health and Safety Review Dec 2014, pg.17
Case Studies
“Unfair Dismissal Upheld by the EAT”
(October 2014) – NOTE: The relevance / specification of training were noted as a big deciding factor here…..
A truck driver was recently awarded a sum of Euro 9,300.00 by the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) as a result of an unfair dismissal dispute. The driver in question was dismissed from his place of work in late November 2012, as a direct result of an incident with a trailer. On the day in question, the driver was carrying out his daily duties in the yard and on this occasion he was tasked with attaching a trailer to his tractor unit. This he did in accordance with his training as noted throughout the hearing but after driving for only a short distance the trailer detached, came loose from its holding mechanism and bounced off the ground.
The driver himself had been a truck driver since 2002 and had been given induction training as noted by his employer on 26th October 2012. Despite this evidence on behalf of the employer, the tribunal found that they had concerns about the relevance of this training and also about the fact that during the dismissals procedure, no consideration had been given to the fact that up to the date in question, the driver himself had an extemporary safety and work record.
Issues to be pondered here from both a health and safety and human resources perspective are….
- Within your own business, are your disciplinary procedures fair, robust and understood by all?
- Within your own business, are all of your training programmes specific and relevant to all site specific and area specific tasks?
We alongside our trusted service partners can provide you with an overall comprehensive health and safety and HR health check service.
