Sarah Daniels Interview
Sarah Daniels, along with Richard Mills, run the RedCat Partnership Ltd, a business devoted to consulting with & training businesses in the requirements of health and safety, food safety and environmental health legislation. They are vastly experienced Environmental Health Practitioners with over 20 years each in the industry. They also run a number of accredited and bespoke training courses in Norwich and are recognised train the trainers. This role as industry experts has brought the team into contact with a vast array of businesses and industries. Sarah has been kind enough to take the time to share some of that experience with us here at GoContractor.
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Controlling the human factor
Why is it so difficult for companies to adhere to health and safety protocol?
Sarah feels that the primary reason why companies struggle to adhere to health and safety legislation is that there is a lack of ‘buy in’ from the company management. Her experience has shown her that safe businesses do not see health and safety as an add-on function but as the foundation of all that they do. In a similar way to companies that put customer service at the heart of their day to day operations it represents an attitudinal shift that has wide ranging implications for staff and customers. A company that has buy-in from management will build health and safety processes into everything from sanitation to marketing. There is no way in which this type of process change can come from the ground up, rather management have to actively lead and promote this change.
This can start with a strong health and safety orientation process for new employees which can be repeated if necessary as a form of refresher for existing staff. Another thing which Sarah has found to work very well is a simple record of near misses on site. This record not only alerts the health and safety supervisor to elements that might need to be addressed but it is also good practice for staff to recognise that a near miss has happened and what could have happened if it hadn’t been caught.
Leadership
How can management lead from the front?
Assigning supervisors or officers to take responsibility for the application of health and safety protocol is essential to leading from the front. Without these sergeants on the ground there isn’t sufficient ‘reach’ to all workers. Sarah believes companies should mention their health and safety culture at a very early stage, even as candidates are being interviewed for a position. In this way potential hires can be screened based on their stated attitude. The hope is that all employees, in time, will have ‘buy-in’ to the ethos.
Sarah has been impressed in her dealings with Blue Sky Leisure, a chain of leisure parks, restaurants and park homes. She cites them as an example of a company that has written health and safety into the company culture from the start and one which takes it environmental responsibilities seriously. They have taken initiatives to lessen their impact on the environment and this has built a deep rooted corporate culture that is a significant part of their identity now.
A great first step for companies is to write up a company policy in relation to health and safety which can work as a template for all operations. This policy document can be drawn up by a professional in order to ensure all elements are taken into account.
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Supervision
How can supervision and employee testing be managed?
It is clear that if a policy document is the brains of your health and safety processes then supervision and testing are the teeth. It is, however, easier said than done. Sarah herself has built up skills to test companies on their understanding of policies through her experience as an auditor. She uses open ended questions rather than yes or no questions to really understand someone’s comprehension of a topic or process. This is something that trainers within a company can replicate and this will strengthen their company’s processes in the long run. She also needs evidence of what the team member states – by seeing them work or by the provision of inspection certificates.
There are some rules of thumb that work for all businesses regarding supervision. It is not something which should be done on a yearly basis to fulfill obligations, rather, ongoing supervision should be undertaken on a daily basis. Supervision and the supervisor must take the process seriously. There is no point in a supervisor saying, “Let’s get this health and safety protocol out of the way”, as it sends the wrong message to staff.
Official testing can be done online or face-to-face if companies wish to have a record of who has passed training modules that are specific to their workplace. These results have the added value of being on-demand in the event of an incident which may have implications for insurance claims among other things.
Trends and Change
What are the key changes taking place in the workplace for environmental health and safety?
The key change over the past number of years has been more flexible working arrangements for workers. Many people now work from home either some or all of the time and this has huge implications for workers. In this instance employers have very little control over their staff’s environmental conditions but, in addition, they have reduced communications with these staff. The growth of home working will present challenges to businesses in the future according to Sarah as companies will have to find new ways to protect workers.
The use of technology and automation to control all aspects of the workplace is naturally affecting health and safety practice. From increased recording of activities to the growth of online training there are certainly gains to be made in terms of accountability and in ease of learning. If, for example, a worksite has CCTV recordings of incidents there will not only be less difficultly in writing up an incident report but there will also be a strong incentive for workers and management to take responsibility for their own actions.
Legislation is changing and being streamlined but the big story in this is how much has remained the same. Sarah feels that, in the UK at least, legislation has been reduced in the past number of years but much of the important legislation that is applied in practice has not changed. That said, there is a degree of satisfaction that legislation has being going the right way in recent times and injuries and workplace accidents are not increasing. Personal responsibility will always be a factor but it will continue to be the case that employers will have to lead from the front and leverage any technological advances to make the job of training staff easier for everyone.
If you would like to contact Sarah Daniels at RedCat Partnership use the link here.
If you would like to learn more about online orientation systems why not let us walk you through our software here.
