Health and Safety for Factories and Workshops

The health and safety stakes in factory and workshop environments can be enormous. When you consider that the UK government found it necessary to run national television advertising campaigns about avoiding back injury for example, it’s clear that health and safety is not just a priority for individuals – it’s a factor with a major impact on the economy as a whole.

The statistics alone are shocking: studies show that about 1.1 million people in the UK suffer from muscular disorders as a result of lifting in the workplace; and an estimated 12.3 million in working days are lost annually in the UK due to related manual handling injuries.

These figures also influence the cost of insurance premiums. Companies that cannot demonstrate a clean bill of health in this and related areas must pay higher premiums. Costs go up; profits go down. Yet putting the right health and safety environment in place in factory and workshop situations doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it can give an excellent return on investment.

Not only does your company save on insurance costs and avoid potential fines levied for non-compliance, but your workers’ productivity goes up. Our customers comment on their workers being more enthusiastic and more positive in their attitude at work when they see that health and safety procedures are being implemented that will benefit them as well.

So how can you start? Accidents and risk are items that should be addressed in every workplace, but sometimes you just don’t have the time.  Whether you are a factory owner or manager, you probably have a great deal to do on the job, and “less time sensitive” projects often get pushed aside. But now you can stop worrying about whether or not your health and safety is everything that you need it to be.

By enlisting a ProActive Health & Safety consultant to assess the risks in your factory or workshop, you can have a more cost effective solution that can ensure that you are within the guidelines that the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) require – and that can also save you time and money.
 
Accidents on the job often means workers compensation and your insurance may have to pay for the accident. The amount offered for an accident depends on a number of variables, but you could have a significant loss in revenue as a result.  However, a ProActive Health & Safety consultant working for you to assess risks for employee health and safety can prevent accidents, or determine why the accident occurred and your position within the boundaries of your regulations. 

Increasing the number of accident-free working days will allow insurance companies to lower premium costs. They also take a favourable view of companies that show they are using the services of a health and safety consultant, for the same reason.

 

Using a ProActive Health & Insurance consultant who is specialised in factory and workshop environments can keep you up to date with the latest HSE regulations. Safety inspectors who visit your premises annually have to make sure that you are in compliance with the laws. Areas that need to be worked on regarding health and safety may even be sanctioned by fines. Our consultants can ensure that safety inspections are always satisfactory and that your factory or workshop is correctly informed about health and safety developments.

Our involvement on our customers’ sites will typically include managing the following items:

• Audit of equipment and machinery to ensure legislative compliance
• Checking safe systems of work, such as machine shut-off in case of malfunction
• Employee training for the risk assessment and steps needed
• Fire Risk Assessment
• Noise Assessment
• Pre-inspection audits to ensure that HSE classification is satisfactory, or better
• Annual action plans as appropriate
• Special considerations such as working in confined spaces

 
If you have a health and safety inspection that is due in your factory or workshop, or you want to know how health and safety can be an asset for you instead of a cost, then phone us on 0161 935 8282. You’ll get immediate answers on how our flexible solutions can bring you the expert cost-effective help that you want, when you want it and for the length of time that you want it.