OHH YEEES!!!

MHSW Regs & Case Law exists.


Depending on your actual Job Description; & given your other post re CSs, I would ensure that ALL safety communication with ALL management is in writing, traceable & auditable - not that I'm a cynic or anything!!

Frank Hallett

Forgot to say, if you are an employee (not a contractor or otherwise self employed) then your company remains responsible for your actions/recommendations.

Its called vicarious liability.

http://en.wikipedia.org/...liability_in_English_law

You probably have little to worry about then, in terms of personal prosecution.

Complete a suitable and sufficient confined space risk assessment & report.
Record your findings.
Make your recommendations.
Formally circulate your finding within your company safety management system and document control system.

Check and monitor for the recommendations being acted on.

Your company is then aware of what needs to be done.

Retain personal copies, if you think things could turn nasty as regards employment rights/arguments

OK folks - I understand that maybe my response was a little to brief.

I answered the question posed re vulnerabality - nothing more. And there is sufficient Case Law to support that - both from HSWA S36/37 and also MHSW prosecutions.

As has been earlier identified, as an employee, your Employer is liable for your actions and also for ensuring that you're competent [if you read MHSW, you will find that this includes the necessary resources to do the job]; however, how you identify to the employer any deficiencies in your competence is critically important here.

I assume that you have a copy of L21 - free download from HSE? Get the pdf rather than the HTML 'cos it is easier to manipulate.

I'm sure that this will roll on so I'll leave it there.

Frank Hallett

There are a whole load of issues here about responsibility and accountability, I got asked to write a safety case for the business area that I work in, even though I am a subcontractor working under the Primary Contractors Safety Management Plan (It gets worse) I refused, but added that I would assist wherever I could. Sometimes you just have to put you hand up and say "NO! that's Your job"

I know of someone who worked in a similar position a few years back where an employee was killed.
The H&S person was sacked as although it was proved he had had the training required to prevent the accident, he had done nothing to eliminate the risk.
The HSE never brought any prosecution against the H&S person because it was said that although the company had given him the necessary training, it had failed to ensure he was doing the job he was paid to do.

Agree with all comments relating to keeping records of advice and communications.

Think about the message your selling. To some of the old school who have the very entrenched beliefs in terms of “just get it done” or “we’ve being doing it that way for years” you are never going to sell the idea that doing X, Y & Z is necessary to minimise the risk of hurting people because they don’t necessarily think there is a risk and that you are basically pushing “elf & safety” and being obstructive. Instead better to turn it round and “sell” what you are doing as reducing the risk exposure both to the individual concerned and the organisation – there is more than a subtle difference in how this should be perceived if explained in the right way and the end result in terms of compliance / development of SSOW should effectively be the same.

Finally, it is important to be part of the solution and not just viewed as the person with the stop sign. I have worked in manufacturing/light construction for years and it never ceases to amaze me how people can go out of their way to do things in weird and wonderful fashions, making make their jobs less efficient and riskier - but this is OK as they “have been doing it like that for years!”.

If you can actually take a step back, look at it from a practical perspective and work with people to develop more efficient (as well as safer) ways to do things then you become an asset, not just the health and safety guy. This is also a bit more pro-active than picking up the phone to the HSE which is a lot easier to say on this forum - insulated from the inevitiable fall out - than it is in practice. At the end of the day you need to work with these people!

Apologies if the above is teaching you how to suck eggs and good luck with the job.

quote=bluefingers]As Health and Safety Advisor in a SME, reporting to the director who has responsibility for Health and Safety, am I at risk of prosecution if anything goes wrong? Should I be insured against this eventually?

Hills.... I'll send a linkedin message tonight if I may. I need to sort this out .....

Rob

I don't think an employed H&S Advisor has much to worry about. However, I do think IOSH could provide a very useful service for its members if it offered legal representation (insurance?) in the event of an IOSH member being in some sort of dispute with their employer.
Our Code of Practice infers a degree of independence on our part (employee first?), but many of us will have a contract of employment (employer first?) which could create a problem.

I think David is probably right. I am employed as an H&S Supervisor and am also a union member. My union gives legal help (not just work related) and public liability insurance among other things. They also understand the business I'm in. There is no conflict with my employer as most of the workforce are unionised - 3 unions are recognised in our company. Being a union member gives me peace of mind. I've been a member for well over 30yrs and never once waved a plackard or stood on a picket line!