5 Benefits of Using a Health and Safety Consultancy

Whether you’re running a startup or an established enterprise, maintaining compliance with ever-changing health and safety regulations and requirements can be a daunting prospect. Yet all businesses must ensure that they are adhering to any rules that apply to them.

According to the HSE (Health & Safety Executive) in the year 2018 – 2019, 0.6 million workers sustained a non-fatal injury and 147 people died in workplace accidents. There were 28.2 million days lost due to work-related ill health or injuries in the same period and annual costs of work-related injuries run into billions of pounds each year.

But health and safety need not be a burden on the business owner, nor should it be seen as an onerous checkbox exercise. There are numerous business benefits of good health and safety in the workplace, including increased productivity and an enhanced company reputation. By engaging the services of a professional health and safety consultancy, a business has access to expert advice and guidance which delivers numerous business benefits. In this guide, we’ll highlight our top five reasons to seek expert health and safety advice for your business.

1. Gain an Objective Audit of Your Health and Safety Provision
   Entrepreneurs and business owners can sometimes be too close to their business to identify gaps in health and safety policies, procedures and provisions. Added to which, it’s likely that they’re not health and safety experts. Few empires were built on the skills and knowledge of an individual. An independent expert health and safety consultant can run a full audit of your existing workplace practices and quickly create a prioritised list of areas for improvement regarding current guidelines that apply to your business. Understanding where you may be falling short of compliance with relevant regulations is half the battle. Once you have this essential information, plans can be put in place to address and rectify the issues.
2. Develop a Pro-Active Agile Approach
   Many startups and small companies adopt an, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach when it comes to health and safety. Waiting until something goes wrong and then addressing it can be a costly and oftentimes destructive choice.Recent examples of company fines due to inappropriate or lacking health and safety practices include the case of a Carlisle auto-salvage company incurring a fine of £23,000 plus £8,000 costs after a customer was trapped and fatally crushed by a lift truck he had purchased from the company. A construction company was fined similar amounts after failing to remove asbestos while refurbishing an old hotel. A health and safety consultancy can help you to develop a proactive agile plan, rather than relying on a potentially costly reactive approach. Identify the gaps in provision ahead of time rather than frantically scrambling to manage a disaster when it occurs.
3. Get the Best for Your Employees
   Companies that show employees they are valued will bank a higher level of credibility with their teams but also with prospective partners, clients, customers and new leads. Make your staff feel that you are investing in their workplace well-being and you will save the business thousands of pounds on recruiting and retaining excellent employees.A health and safety consultancy can provide the expertise you need to keep employees feeling safe, valued and motivated (which in turn means better motivation and retention rates for the business).
4. Build a Positive Work Culture
   By utilising the skills and knowledge of health and safety experts a business can instill a culture of health and safety that benefits employers and employees alike. A health and safety consultant can advise business owners on the best workplace policies and how to get employees on board. Activities recommended will vary from workplace to workplace but could include workplace assessments or support in writing health and safety documents.
5. Improve Health and Safety Management
   Managers across industries may be confronted with a health and safety requirement for their department and have no idea where to start. For example, a health and safety consultant can support an I.T Manager who may excel in their field but never have been responsible for health and safety before. Health and safety consultants can help management and staff to embrace their new responsibilities and to fully understand them in relation to their existing role.

Why Howlett Health and Safety Services?

Howlett Health and Safety Services will help you to meet your legal requirements in proportion to your size. We will consider your specific business requirements and tailor our service to meet your needs. We offer a wide range of services including Accident, Incident Reporting and Investigation (RIDDOR reporting), Health and Safety Documentation and Workplace Assessments. Get in touch for a free quote and 15-minute consultation