Ten reasons why SMEs should bother with Health & Safety

We understand that Health and Safety can be time consuming, and not at the top of companies priorities. However, being legally compliant will avoid civil claims, financial penalties, increased insurance premiums, and more seriously, imprisonment.

From our experiences the smaller type organisations allocate Health and Safety to an Employee that is not equipped with the knowledge to keep pace with current legislation and therefore potentially exposing the company to risk and liabilities.

Some SMEs don’t have the benefit of a dedicated qualified Health and Safety professional. A proactive approach to address Health and Safety does not have to be complicated, expensive or take a lot of time. Implementing an effective Health and Safety Management makes good business sense and can actually save you money. Your business will not only be safer, it will be one that can develop and thrive well into the future.

Ten reasons why SMEs need to pay more attention to Health and Safety:

1. Ignorance is not an excuse to not comply with the law.Keeping compliant is vital. Penalties for getting it wrong can be severe and fines and business interruption and really effect a small business bottom line.
2. 1.2 million workers suffered from a work-related illness and over 600,000 work place injuries were reported in 2010/11, leading to 26.4 million working days being lost due to work-related injury and illness. So it makes financial sense to monitor and manage Health and Safety to prevent ill health and potential injury and accidents.
3. Employee engagement and consultation is a legal requirement and it is proven that an engaged workforce are more productive and feeling valued improves business performance.
4. When SMEs embrace Health and Safety this has brings commercial benefits and a reduced accident rate which promotes positive public relations with other companies that may want to do business with you.
5. In smaller organisations which have limited resources, a serious accident or an incident such as fire fatality or major injury can spell the end of the business altogether.
6. Statistics show that small businesses (fewer than 50 employees) are likely to have twice the number of fatal accidents compared to larger ones.
7. Insurance will not cover ALL the costs in the event of an accident in your workplace. Insurance will only pay for large compensation claims in the event of disabling injuries or serious damage to property but this may only be a small proportion of the overall cost.
8. Would you want to see one of your employees injured or becoming ill as a result of the work they were undertaking on your behalf? And contacting the family to inform them that their loved one has been taken off to hospital or even worse?
9. All employers have a legal duty of care to ensure that their workers are kept safe whilst at work.
10. Introducing health surveillance programmes within a workplace encourages good health and less absences therefore a better productive workforce.