Why are there rules in health and safety?
The short version is to ensure people are following them and everyone is safe. But, it is a lot more complicated than that. Each employer has legal and organizational obligations to fulfill and the more you dig into one of them, the more complicated they become.
Legal Duties
No matter what happens at the workplace, it is always the responsibility and duty of the employer to make sure it never happens again and they will be asked about this particular thing and how come they let it happen.
Investing in health and safety
To make sure they are following the laws and the rules, all organizations are required to ensure that their employees have received and are receiving the proper training for their roles which goes shoulder to shoulder with their responsibilities and duties. This is an investment that will bring about a lot of return in the long run and it is the responsibility of the employer to ensure they have the right people in the right place.
The workers don’t follow the rules. Why is it the employer’s fault?
The answer to this question is very long as well but let’s take the short one as I will write another article regarding this topic (Health & Safety Culture in the Workplace). Safety culture begins from the top. It is the moral and legal duty of each employer to ensure they have planted the seeds for a health and safety culture in their organization just as it is their duty to care for that seed and watch it grow (put the right people in place to ensure their organizational aims and objectives are met – ZERO INCIDENTS)
This makes it the duty of management (field, middle, and senior) to eliminate the bad apples and not have them infest the rest of the good ones in stock. When an employee CHOOSES to take a shortcut, this means that this type of behavior is tolerable and they most likely know it will go unnoticed or without punishment. If management allows this type of behavior, this too is a sign of a poor health and safety culture.
The Video
I have compiled several words that were said last by people who were involved in an accident and most likely cost them their lives or at least some pain and suffering. This video will show you how poor decisions can lead to life-long injuries or leave your loved ones in pain long after you’re gone.
Promote Safety Website
Check out this website for a bank of free and paid health and safety posters. I would like to personally thank Colin for sharing the last words with me that inspired me to write this article.
