Alex,
You are, of course correct, no one does anything perfect, if they did we would have no need to have Health & Safety legislation, as there would be no accidents!
However, over the last few months, the corporate manslaughter bill has been passed into law, this opens up the possibility of serious jail time for anyone who does not take this issue seriously, and of course, you still have the fines!
Taking documents from sites such as this, or indeed, the HSE site, which by the way admits that the available forms, paperwork on its own site are not sufficient to protect any company, is not a good idea.
As the current economic climate worsens, the pressure to do more with less, will increase, more speed equals more accidents, the accident rates within the industry always increase during a recession. Lots of people within the industry will also try to cut costs, during this time, by putting together so called H & S documentation that they have found on the net, the insurance companies will start to look at any claim made, very closely, if you have not fully complied with the law they could refuse to pay any claim, or even sue the company for negligence.
Unlikely, you think?
If you get on well with any of your own clients, ask to see their H & S file, I think that you would find it a bit of an eye opener!
Lastly, your final comment " As long as you are showing that you are doing something, that is good enough" is no defense at all.
Matthew,
By acknowledging that you need to get this sorted, you show that you actually care about your staff and your company, there are various organisations that offer Health and Safety training, for both yourself and your staff, none of them are cheap options, but the qualifications gained can be used to assure client's and prospects that you take this matter seriously, anyone can say on their web site, that H & S is complied with, and that their staff are fully trained, 90% are not!
The funding for such courses, need not all come out of your own pocket either, contact the training organisations, business link, local chamber of commerce etc.
Get the basic qualifications first, then obtain the supervisory and management certificates as your staff numbers grow.
If worst, comes to worst, you could always get a H & S related job after your qualified!
Regards,
Rob
