What is health and safety to you?

Maybe just some boring but essential processes that you don’t want to think about; a waste of time and money; or just something you haven’t bothered to think about, people must have enough common sense to not fall off a ladder right?

Well if you or someone you know has this, or a similar, attitude towards the health and safety for their business then they are missing out on one hell of a trick that could make them more profitable.

Find out how investing in health and safety can benefit your business in ways you may have not even realised below.

Looking after your staff

The first benefit to your staff is protection against accidents. The completion of an accurate risk assessment can identify any potential ways someone could become victim of an accident in the workplace, whether that be a fall from a height to something as small as tripping over a wire.

Also, if you run a fleet of vehicles or you have members of staff that use their own vehicles for business purposes, health and safety law apply to work activities on the road in the same way as it does to all work activities. You need to manage the risks to drivers as part of your health and safety arrangements. This includes training your staff so they understand the importance of road safety, maintenance of their own vehicles, and the consequences if they don’t.

Finally, health and safety isn’t just about protecting your staff, it is also about showing how you value them by investing in training. As a business owner, you are not the only one responsible for health and safety, your employees should understand how to implement a health and safety culture and legislation as well.

Reduce Absence and Sickness

If a member of your team suffers a serious accident they could be absent from work for weeks or months, if you are a small business who relies on this member of staff can you imagine how much impact that will have?

In addition, it is not just accidents where someone is physically hurt that you need to think about. Anyone who works at a desk for significant periods of time are doing more damage to their bodies than they even realise. Research has shown that sitting for long periods of time can cause increased risk of heart disease, muscle degeneration, and significant back and neck issues. You can limit the risk of significant effects by ensuring your staff have all had a DSE Assessment.

Finally, workplace stress is becoming an area of health and safety that experts and businesses are focusing on more and more. Stress and mental health disorders are still somewhat considered as a taboo, but if left untreated can have a negative effect on your business due to the increase in absence as a result. Don’t let stress and mental health go unnoticed.

Reduce staff costs

Like any business, you are probably always looking at ways you can reduce costs, and for many businesses, staff will be one of your largest outgoings. But did you know with health and safety you could potentially reduce these costs?

As mentioned above if staff are out repeatedly or for long period of time, this can increase costs as you still have to pay sick pay, but if someone is on long-term sick leave you may also have to hire a temporary replacement, therefore leading to increased costs.

In addition, poor health and safety can result in a poor working environment, somewhere your employees just don’t want to be. Therefore leading to increased staff turnover, which means you have to repeatedly invest in recruitment charges.

Reputation

Bad news makes good news, which is why you will see any negative stories about brands making headlines. If someone has an accident, one of your delivery drivers is picked up for bad driving, or maybe your restaurant is picked up for having poor food hygiene, imagine how this will make your brand look to potential and current customers.

You can avoid a negative brand reputation by ensuring your business has the right health and safety culture.

Productivity and Profits

If you take care of the welfare and health of your staff then you can increase productivity and profits. How you may ask?

As we know, a poor working environment and poor safety can negatively impact the physical and mental health of your staff, therefore decreasing their productivity.

At the same time, in particular for employees in jobs that involve manual handling, they can receive appropriate training to ensure that they are doing jobs correctly, therefore reducing the risk of incidents.

If your staff are happier and healthier thanks to good health and safety, this will increase productivity, which will therefore increase your profits. You are probably wondering why you didn’t invest in health and safety sooner after hearing that!

Reduce Insurance and Legal Costs

If you have an accident or the HSE/EHO identifies a problem with your business your insurance costs can be anywhere up to eight times more expensive! Yes we are not joking.

With that in mind you are probably thinking it is time you made sure you spend a little extra to make sure your health and safety is up to scratch instead of responding after you have already had an accident.

In addition to expensive insurance, if a member of your team or even a member of the public are involved in an accident you could be faced with expensive legal costs in addition to the fine you can expect from the HSE/EHO. Under the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012, those who break health and safety laws are liable for recovery of HSE’s related costs, including inspection, investigation and enforcement action.

Is it Time for Health and Safety to Benefit Your Business?

If you aren’t sure whether your health and safety is up to scratch, think you may need to update your processes or want to invest in training for your staff. Contact our team today and we can help you with any of your health & safety needs.

Call us on 01666 503686, or alternatively fill out our contact form.