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Posted By david baird
All,
Based on your various experiences where should HS "sit" in an organisation. In an ideal world we should report to CEOs, but if this is not so - where should it be to be most effective, where are the best overlaps, synergies, etc? In HR / personnel?, Corporate Support, Engineering, etc? - (How longs a piece of string question but thoughts / experiences would be appreciated.)
Cheers,
DB
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Posted By Raymond Rapp
David,
Ideally H&S should sit on its own. In the past H&S has not been given the profile it deserved, largely due to the 'bridesmaid' principle. If, an organisation is to take health and safety matters seriously then it needs the proper focus and not sitting within the directorate of HR etc.
Of course there are many issues that overlap with other directorates. But that should not be reason enough to downgrade H&S into a suitable slot. In fact, there is little within a large organisation where H&S issues do not interact. Therefore, my argument would be that H&S should occupy a similar profile as other directorates.
Regards
Ray
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Posted By Chris Abbott
I agree with Ray.
My situation is, I'm the H&S Advisor and I report into the HR Manager - but my position is new, and therefore so is the reporting structure.
But an independent H&S department would seem to me to be the best idea.
Chris
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Posted By George Wedgwood
Look at the realities - H&S is about people not things. People are best managed by the Director with the most clout - HR. If he has not got the clout - change your employer! Traditionally, H&S was about things and that is why engineering used to take the advisers on board. If we are to see the future, in a world where all such advisers are business wise and corporately skilled, then just maybe we may see H&S becoming a Directorate of its own in most companies. See the large 'public' focused organisations for example, such as rail, where public pressure demands accountability.
Have you got what it takes to be a Board Director of H&S?
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Posted By Paul Craythorne
As you have had the answer to your question of where should H&S sit I will now tell you how long a piece of string is.
A piece of string is twice as long as the distance from its centre to any one of its ends.
Regards,
Paul Craythorne
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Posted By Ken Taylor
I also prefer the 'reporting to the CEO approach' - which is what happens here. Whilst H&S is about people, not all the people involved are employees and subjugation to an HR Department may lead to an unbalanced approach and the introduction of 'employee relations' influences. Whilst I am concerned with the H&S of our employees we alo have a lot more school pupils, persons in care, sheltered tenants, etc whose H&S is no less important. I suppose the best place in any organisation will be where it can be most effective, influencial and unfettered.
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Posted By Jay Joshi
There is no ideal solution as it will depend upon the nature and size of the organisation and organisation structures in place.
The key factor is that there must be a line of direct reporting to the CEO/MD or equivalent even if for administrative a departmental head. Not only that, but all concerned should respect that direct line of reporting and its important role!
In very large organisations, there will be independent safety departments, but that is not the case with medium & smaller organisations. Irrespective of the place where H & S sits, it will be the influence & clout of the departmental head to whom the H & S person reports to, even for administrative purposes that will play a vital role. That, perhaps is more to do with managerial competence.
However, in the real world, there are competing requirements--hence the direct line of reporting to the top executive!
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Posted By Vicky Pye
Im the Health and Safety Advisor of a college and I report to the Director of Estates. I find my position sits very well within the Estates team
Hope this helps !
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Posted By Neil Pearson
As Paul and Jay have said it depends on the organisation, except that you can't have a H&S department in a small company. The important thing is to implement an effective and appropriate management system that involves the most senior people in actively directing H&S. How you achieve this is irrelevant, except for specific legal requirements.
H&S people often fit well into Personnel, Estates & facilities or other central functions. Having them within a functional department like Production is often a drawback in my experience.
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Posted By k p connor
I believe that H&S should be an integrated element running through the organisation and therefore should stand alone, and have access to the root of command. The organisation's commitment to h&s can be judged by it's position in the oganisation's line management chain.
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Posted By LiamDC
Hi,
I feel that if it is not practical for H&S personnel to report to the CEO, then some provision MUST be there for serious breaches of H&S to be communicated directly, or as quickly as possible, to the CEO.
At the end of the day if something happens, then the CEO will have to answer for the H&S or Lack of it. Commitment has to be shown from the top, the very top. As my tutor said to us one day:- 'You can delegate authority, but you can't delegate responsibility'. Effectively this means that the CEO of a company is responsible for policy and has to take the blame as well as the credit. This is the way it is in Ireland and I believe it is the same in the UK.
Regards,
Liam Nolan
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