Follow the leader to a safer workplace

Citation

(2006), "Follow the leader to a safer workplace", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 53 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2006.12853cab.031

Follow the leader to a safer workplace

Follow the leader to a safer workplace

Keywords: Occupational health and safety, Technical regulations

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) takes its message of pragmatic health and safety to MPs and senior directors today, with the launch of two new guidance documents at Westminster.

“The only way to get good health and safety standards is through strong leadership,” said IOSH President, Neil Budworth. “220 people lost their lives at work last year, and they were all preventable deaths. It is up to the government and leaders of industry to show everyone the example to follow.”

IOSH presented Parliament with think about health and safety – supporting Westminster MPs in their constituencies for distribution to all MPs. This reference booklet gives clear guidance for use within their constituency offices and surgeries. It includes a case study supplied by Edward Garnier, MP for Harborough, as well as checklists and contact numbers for the health and safety team at Westminster.

Questioning Performance – The Director's Essential Guide to Health, Safety and the Environment is a new book from IOSH, written by David Eves and by Rt Hon John Gummer MP. It gives directors all they need to know to discharge their responsibilities properly, and enables them to ask the right questions of their safety teams and understand the answers.

David Eves, former Deputy Director General and HM Chief Inspector in the HSE, said: “Directors are responsible for the big picture, and have to ensure that their company will survive and prosper in a harsh, competitive world. They may reach the boardroom with little or no experience of managing risks to health and safety. If they think this is best left to experts while they concentrate on the company's financial success, they do so at their peril.”

“Increasingly, company directors are seen to be responsible for the health, safety and environmental record of their businesses,” Rt Hon John Gummer MP said. “Customers, shareholders and the wider public know that the profitability and reputation of a company is put at risk when directors do not measure up to these growing expectations.”

Eves continued, “Directors who take their responsibilities seriously will want to ensure that their workforce, the general public, their own professional standing and the reputation of their company and brand, are properly protected. We hope that questioning performance will help them.”