Introducing Managing Safely
Why safety is part of every manager's job: the human, legal and financial cost of getting it wrong, and what you personally are responsible for.
Pages in this chapter (1 of 4)
1.1 Why It Is Important to Manage Safely
Think for a moment about a serious accident in your own workplace. Picture the injured worker, the pain and the cost to that person, and the effect on colleagues, friends and family. Some workers spend weeks in hospital. Some never work again.
If the accident happened because health and safety risks were not managed, the regulator may take action. That action can lead to prosecution, fines and imprisonment. The injured person may also bring a claim for compensation.
You may feel that your organisation could pay these costs. But fines and compensation are only a small part of the bill. The larger costs are:
- replacement labour and the time lost while the work stops
- the accident investigation
- any fee that the regulator charges for its intervention (for example, in Great Britain, the fee for intervention)
- higher insurance premiums, because insurance does not pay criminal fines
Then there is reputation. Local press and television may cover the story. A large customer that has just placed an order may think again. Other customers, staff, contractors and the community will form a view of your organisation. In many cases the loss of reputation costs more than the fine.
A case study: an unguarded drilling machine
A worker was using an unguarded drilling machine in a small engineering company with 15 employees. The sleeve of his jumper caught on the rotating drill and wound his arm in. Both bones of his lower arm were broken, and he suffered severe damage to muscle and tissue.
He spent 12 days in hospital and had major surgery. He was off work for three months. When he came back he did office duties for five months, and he could not operate machinery for eight months. The managing director was prosecuted. The total cost to the business was about £45,000 (about $64,500). Two employees who had nothing to do with the accident were made redundant so that the company could survive.
Three reasons to manage safely
There are three reasons that apply in every country and every sector.
| Reason | What it means |
|---|---|
| Moral | It is not acceptable for people to be injured or made ill by their work. An organisation that shows it cares about its people tends to have a happier, more productive workforce. |
| Legal | Most countries with health and safety laws expect responsible people to assess the risks that their activities can reasonably be foreseen to cause, and to put in place controls that reduce them so far as is reasonably practicable. This is fair: the organisation is the one that creates the risk. |
| Financial | Good management reduces fines and compensation claims. It also lowers insurance costs, makes work safer and more efficient, and helps an organisation win business and attract and keep staff. |
A study aid, not published or endorsed by IOSH or OSHA. Laws and limits differ between countries.