The Weight of Health and Safety

Victoria Brown, Founder of oneSAFE, explains the relevance of Health and Safety, and what’s on offer from the newest BITA member support hub

The public can think wearily about health and safety people, and newspapers are always happy to publicise examples of ‘Health and safety gone mad!’. But although it sometimes gets an eyeroll, health and safety regulations save lives.

Health and safety legislation was first introduced in the UK with the 1802 Health and Morals of Apprentices Act, which covered mill apprentices and was seemingly not enforced. Extensions to the Act were added piecemeal, with add-on legislation for working in mines, working hours (maximum nine hours a day for nine-year-olds), and agriculture, all bolted on up until 1974.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 bought comprehensive health and safety reforms and swept away the previous mishmash of strung together legislation. It set up governing bodies and sought to improve the health and safety of people in all industries. This has also been added to throughout the years, and the impact has been dramatic.

Statistica reports that in 1974 there were 651 work-related deaths in Great Britian, and this has steadily decreased to 123 for 2022; so hardly just a box-ticking exercise.

Securing the wellbeing of employees, from illness, injury or death, is something that I am very passionate about. But sometimes the incredible strides made in the industry and the rational behind certain decisions, gets buried underneath the mocking headlines.

You may have heard about the Retained EU Law Bill, currently working its way through parliament. You may not. But the implication for workers is potentially massive. If approved, the Bill would remove 2,400 health and safety laws that were enacted during the UK’s time as an EU member. Whether or not they would be reinstated in some fashion is not yet clear.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, the Scaffolding Association, the British Safety Council and many other Institutions in the health and safety sphere (and many others) are all sounding an alarm against withdrawing these laws, and for good reason. The laws include many that apply to the construction industry, which is still the most dangerous industry in the UK, with deaths four times higher than other industry averages. We need to make sure that these protections are kept, to safeguard workers.

Many BITA members work in and around the construction industry, and as such, health and safety are important considerations for the organisation. As a reflection of this, BITA has been working with the Lighthouse Club Charity for nearly a decade, a charity that provides emotional, physical and financial wellbeing support to construction workers and their families. It’s a cause that many members are also passionate about.

So, I was delighted to start work with BITA on a Health and Safety Hub, as part of their Member Support Area. Of course, the main part of BITA membership is around networking events and opportunities to grow your business. But that growth is impossible without the correct expertise and support in place, and this is where the Hubs can help.

Our award-winning consultancy have developed powerful Health and Safety software called oneSAFE, which can support BITA members on their growth journey, to make sure that they are fully compliant with the law, and to make sure that their employees are safe.

This system will provide access to a range of health and safety documents and useful toolbox talks to support and protect your business.

We are also offering BITA members the ability to upgrade to a comprehensive system at a discounted rate. The upgrade would provide access to the full health and safety software to track risk assessments, training records, log accidents and near misses, and help you stay on the right side of changing legislation. The platform will be launched in the next few weeks, and you’ll start receiving your log in details. I look forward to working with you all.