Posted By Robert Weiland Dear all Just had a NVQ assessor on site stating that we need the classic Health and Safety poster on site in all three factories. I have it in the main area of reception. Is this the case ?

Posted By Jonathan Breeze Robert, Providing you are making sure that your employees are aware of it's location and contents, then this should be sufficient. However, if I were auditing you, I would be asking for evidence that you are doing this. We cover it in induction training and provide a printed copy of the HSE leaflet: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/law.pdf The auditor is then satisfied by a review of our training records. Given all this, it might just be cheaper to supply three posters in the short term and look to changing staff training as a longer term objective. Hope this helps.

Posted By Philosophical I would be interested to know whether your safety performance improves when and if you put the poster up in all of your factories.

Posted By Robert Weiland Yeah that's true not everyone goes through the reception area. Best get my manager on car phone and get him back up here to order some. Cheers everyone.

Posted By Paul Oliver At £7.50 a pop, they are hardly going to break the bank if you display a couple more. :-)

Posted By Paul Oliver Simply put. It is a legal requirement to display the poster. It also provides employees with the basic requirements of both their employer and themsleves in accordance with H&S law. If you don't want to display the poster, then why not forget about consultation with employees on H&S matters, etc. Because that is what it does in effect; consults employees on H&S matters.

Posted By John Murgatroyd It's full of useful information, about your rights IN LAW on health and safety. About what your employer HAS TO DO with respect to health and safety. In fact, given that most employers regard their employees health and safety as a lower priority than themselves having soft toilet paper, it is only that poster that informs the average employee that he/she actually has ANY rights to do with work at all. I would have thought, in 2006, that most employers would have seen the light about health and safety. This is unfortunately not so, many small businesses regard employees as rather the same as dirt on their footwear (not safety footwear either) I have seen a letter, from a small business organisation, that recommended putting THAT poster in the office entrance of the factory on the basis that the workforce would not be able to read about the basic requirements of H&S (less trouble if "they" don't know any law) An own goal really, with a T&GW ex steward and an AEEU member in the workforce. Still, they never learn....an expensive own goal as well.........

Posted By Steve B Well put John. Garyh I think you may be missing the point.... the information is there IF YOU WANT TO READ IT! quite right there is no audit trail to prove who has read it.... but if someone wants to know their basic rights ... or who their safety rep is etc etc it is there. you need to go back to the basics some people i.e. employees do not know the HSE exists or what they do... some employees dont want to know but we (Health and Safety Professionals) must endevour to educate the uneducated and teach the unteachable with what ever weapon we have in our armoury.... the health and safety poster is just one thing and the bottom line is... and I hate to leave on this note but it is the LAW to display them, and as said above at £7.50 each what's the problem? regards Steve

Posted By Jonathan Breeze ...Or provide them with the appropriate leaflet which is free to download and costs only the paper on which it is printed. In other words, there is no excuse for not providing the information. Garyh, while I appreciate what you are saying (and would also agree that this has been my experience), John Murgatroyd appears to be putting forward a contrary point of view. His experience appears similar to that of pre-revolutionary Russia, and even taking into account hyperbole on his and my behalf, it would appear that there is still a need for this information to be displayed in some workplaces.

Posted By John Murgatroyd The poster HAS to be displayed where it can be seen. AS do others, depending on your industry. I'm sorry some disagree with me, but a LOT of businesses DO NOT place H&S very high on their list of priorities. They do the risk assessments (sorry, their H&S consultancy does) etc, have the safety policy (vanilla), but do little else. The endless list of deaths, injuries, accidents and prosecutions tells the story. In many places the first stop for H&S complains is a director....the next stop is the unemployment office !

Posted By Stuart Scott Just a quick quote from a marketing site regards posters. The problem with posters is, “Poster Blindness.” The first couple of times you see a new poster, you actually read it. Then, at some point, it becomes wallpaper. You no longer notice the poster, because you’ve seen it so many times before. It’s repetition used to the extreme. So, in order to use repetition effectively, you’ve got to find numerous methods of repeating your message. It’s like being a good teacher. If you say the same thing over and over again the same way , you’re boring. If you say the same thing over and over again different ways, you’re an effective teacher. The idea is to repeat yourself, but to do it creatively. Regardless of whether they are compulsory, I have to agree, does the H&S of an organisation improve because there are two new posters, I think not. I think it is out of date way of dispributing information, the posters, lets face it offer no real commitment to H&S at all! Surely a positive specific statment of intent would be far better than the genric posters we are required to use?