Internal influences on Safety standards

Management Commitment:
Managers, particularly senior managers, can give powerful messages to the workforce by what they do
for health and safety. Managers may achieve the level of H&S performance that they demonstrate they
want to achieve. Senior managers should be personally involved in:
Health and safety inspection or audits
Meetings of the central health and safety or joint consultation committees
Involvement in the investigation of accidents, ill-health and incidents. The more serious the
incident, the more senior the manager who takes an active part in the investigation.
Production/service demands
Managers need to balance the demands placed by customers with the action required to protect the
health and safety of their employees. How this is achieved has a strong influence on the standards
adopted by the organisation. The delivery driver operating to the nearimpossible delivery schedules
and the manager agreeing to the strident demands of a large customer regardless of the risk to
employees involved are typical dilemmas facing workers and managers alike. The only way to deal with
these issues is to be well organised and agree with the client /employees ahead of the crisis as to how
they should be prioritized.
Communication
Communication with employees has significant influence on health and safety issues. This will include:
Poorly communicated procedures that will not be understood or followed.
Poor verbal communication which will be misunderstood and will demonstrate a lack of interest
by senior managers
Missing or incorrect signs that may cause accidents rather than prevent them
Managers who are nervous about face-to-face discussions with the workforce on health and
safety issues which will have a negative effect.
Safety
standards
Production /
service demands
Management
Commitment
Communication
Competence
Employee
Representatives
Managers and supervisors should plan to have regular discussion to learn about the problems faced by
employees and discuss possible solutions.
Competence
Competent people, who know what they are doing and have the necessary skills to do the task correctly
and safely, will make the organization effective. Competence can be brought in through recruitment or
consultancy but it is often much more effective to develop it among employees, It demonstrates
commitment to health and safety and a sense of security for the workforce. The loyalty it creates in the
workforce can be a significant benefit to safety standards.
Employee representation
Given the resources and freedom to fulfill their function effectively, enthusiastic, competent employee
safety representatives can make a major contribution to good health and safety standards. They can
provide the essential bridge between managers and employees. People are more willing to accept the
restrictions that some precautions bring if they are consulted and feel involved, either directly in small
workforces or through their safety representatives.
External influences on health and safety standards










Societal expectations
Societal expectations are not static and tend to rise over time. Society can influence standards through:
People only working for good employers. This is effective in times of low unemployment
National and local news media highlighting good and bad employment practices
Schools teaching good standards of health and safety
Safety
Standards
Society
Trade unions
Insurance
Companies
Legislation
Economics
Commercial
stakeholders
The purchase of fashionable and desirable safety equipment such as trendy crash helmets for
mountain bikes
Buying products only from responsible companies.
Watching TV programmes, which improve safety knowledge and encourage safe behavior from
an early age

Legislation and enforcement
Good comprehensible legislation should have a positive effect on health and safety standards. Taken
together, legislation and enforcement can affect standards by:
Providing a level to which every employer must conform
Insisting on minimum standards which also enhances peoples ability to operate and perform
well
Providing a tough, visible threat of getting shut down or a heavy fine
Stifling development by being too prescriptive
Providing well presented and easily readable guidance documents for specific industries at
reasonable cost or free
On the other hand, a weak enforcement regime can have a powerful negative effect on standards
Insurance companies
Insurance companies can influence health and safety standards mainly through financial incentives.
Employers liability insurance is a legal requirement in the UK and therefore all employers have to obtain
this type of insurance cover. Insurance companies can influence standards through:
Discounting premiums to those in the safest sectors or best individual companies
Insisting on risk reduction improvement to remain insured. This is not very effective where
competition for business is fierce
Encouraging risk reduction improvements by bundling services into the insurance premium.
Providing guidance on standards at a reasonable cost or free
Trade unions
Trade unions can influence standards by:
Providing training and education for members
Providing guidance and advice cheaply or free to members
Influence governments to regulate, enhance enforcement activities and provide guidance
Influencing employers to provide high standards for their members. This is sometimes confused
with financial improvements, with health and safety getting a lower priority
Encouraging members to work for safer employers
Helping members to get proper compensation for injury and ill health if it is caused through
their work
Economics
Economics can play a major role in influencing health and safety standards. The following ways are the
most common:
Lack of orders and/or money can cause employers to try to ignore health and safety
requirements
If employers were really aware of the actual and potential cost of accidents and fines, they
would be more concerned about prevention.
Perversely, when the economy is booming activity increases and, particularly in the building
industry, accidents can sharply increase. The pressures to perform and deliver for customers can
be safety averse.
Business that are only managed on short-term performance indicators seldom see the
advantage of the long-term gains that are possible with a happy, safe and fit workforce
Commercial stakeholders
A lot can be done by commercial stakeholders to influence standards. This includes:
Insisting on proper arrangements for health and safety management at supplier companies
before they tender for work or contracts
Checking on suppliers to see if the workplace standards are satisfactory
Encouraging ethical investments
Considering ethical standards as well as financial when banks provide funding
Providing high-quality information for customers
Insisting on high standards to obtain detailed planning permission (where this is possible)
Providing low-cost guidance and advise