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Posted By mikecooper
I am just after a little advice....
i am currently working on the health and safety documentation within a small company.
the director who is "responsible" for health and safety, if possible, would not like to be....
can i simply say that the board of directors are ultimately responsible for this and name him as an advisor to the board of directors?
if you have any example statements or advice i would be over the moon.
thanking you in advance.
Mike Cooper
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Posted By RL
Why would he 'not like to be'??
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Posted By mikecooper
ok let me re phrase that a little....
in my opinion, if you do not have to put the rope around one neck then you shouldnt... even with the best H & S procedures in place the worst can happen. it is only at this point would the wording of the policy possibly become the difference between nice sunday dinner or jail food, which is still prob a nice sunday dinner but thats another argument!
reading between the lines is not required on this one, just a straight forward question with no hidden meaning!
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Posted By RL
Mike, sorry if that seemed a bit off, it wasnt meant that way...Anyway, I would say no, he must ultimately be named as the responsible person....
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Posted By mikecooper
thats ok, thanks for your opinion
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Posted By mikecooper
RACH....
2 fish in a tank, one looks at the other and says "do you know how to drive this?"
add some distribution theorum to that bad boy.
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Posted By garyh
This person sounds like he or she is the wrong one for the job. If they have not got the guts to take responsibility they should not be a Director at all.
Ask the MD what they think??
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Posted By Anthony Edwards
Mike,
I believe you can ultimately specify anyone of the directors to be responsible for health and safety, but remember if it all goes 'Pete Tong' it would be the 'controlling mind' of the company who has ultimate responsibility. You can delegate your powers but not the responsibility!
Nutty
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Posted By mikecooper
thank you nutty.... someone who has viewed the origional question for what it was.
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Posted By R Joe
Mike
The problem here in my view is that lots of companies now have a H&S Director who 'is responsible for H&S' (with good intention) but a lack of clarity over what the role is, or should be. This can lead to other directors taking a step back to the detriment of collective responsibility, and corporate manslaughter is based on the aggregate performance of the senior management team, not one individual. OHSAS 18001 4.4.1 provides a good way to approach this ie the H&S Director has a specific responsibility for 'ensuring the H&S management system is established and maintained' and 'ensuring reports on performance of this go to top management' - as the basis of their collective review. INDG417 is also worth looking at on this point - the H&S Director is the champion who ensures that the strategic importance is understood by the board - not the fall guy.
Hope this helps a bit.
RJ
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Posted By Ciaran McAleenan
Hello Mike
Try this in the Policy statement;
"While the Director of XXX is appointed as the H&S director, members of the Board and senior managers accept their specific responsibility to provide H&S leadership."
Within the responsibilities procedure you could use wording such as this;
"a The Chief Executive is to ensure that there are arrangements in place to protect the health and safety of COMPANY> employees and others affected by its activities.
b The Director of XXX is to ensure that COMPANY>’s business strategy delivers on the published health and safety policy statement.
c The Head of YYY Unit is to develop and maintain the systems required to assist COMPANY> in achieving its strategic health and safety aims.
d Managers are to ensure that their staff have the necessary competence, resources and authority to act in a manner that protects their health and safety and that of others affected by their work.
e Employees are to comply with the health and safety arrangements that apply to their own activities.
f Individual safety management and safe working procedures are to identify specific responsibilities."
The key thing that a Director with H&S responsibility is doing is ensuring that other Director's aware of the consequences of their decisions and is ensuring, on behalf of the Board that policies and procedures deliver effective H&S across the company. In this scenario each individual has competence, resources and authority to act within their sphere of control and influence.
Best wishes
Ciaran
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Posted By Adrian Watson
Mike,
You can allocate responsibility to the board; they are all equally accountable! However, it is best practice to get one of them to act as Health and Safety Steward for the board. This ensures that H & S matters are addressed.
Regards Adrian
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Posted By Tabs
The posts by Cairan, RJ and Adrian are right in my opinion.
The appointing of a director is to "direct" not to hang blame on. Explain to him/her that such a position should be publicised so that people know how to approach with problems and suggestions ... and dispute resolution.
He/she will not be accepting any more responsibility by being named than if they remain anonymous - facts will decide if any blame exists.
It is like a shop manager wearing a name badge saying "manager" ... it is helpful - a lack of the badge wouldn't stop someone asking for the manager and easily seeking them out during a problem.
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