Blog: Why Health and Safety should be on the radar of businesses of all sizes

A question that we’re frequently asked at Buzz Safety is ‘Why is Health and Safety important to my small business?’.

Other regular questions and statements we hear include:

• ‘Why is it important and what will it do for my business?’
• ‘Why should I bother?’
• ‘It doesn’t apply to me anyway because I have less than five employees’ (Which is an incorrect statement, by the way!)

So, where do I start? There is so much to say, and far too much to write in one blog.

There are the obvious answers:

• To reduce accidents
• It is required by law
• It makes staff feel valued and happy
• For peace of mind and to avoid prosecutions.

But these obvious answers often fall on deaf ears.

So, what can a simple, yet effective health and safety management system do for your small business?

Well, in a nutshell, this is what; surely all businesses want to be profitable. And to be profitable, staff need to be as productive as possible. Productive staff are borne out of happiness and high morale, which often comes from a feeling of being looked after and valued.

Plus, in order to maximise sales, a business requires a good public image.

These can be achieved through a tailored health and safety management system.

In truth, the list of reasons why you should care about health and safety could go on and on.

Set aside the fear of prosecution – although the potential for prosecution is real and should not be ignored. In my view, fear of prosecution is way down the list of reasons for putting health and safety systems in place – there are so many positive reasons that come before that.

Sound and effective health and safety management, as part of a good overall management, will help you to achieve a successful, profitable business.

In my view, at the end of the day, good management of health and safety can be summed up as good business sense.

I will continue to explore the benefits of a good health and safety system, along with potential consequences of not managing health and safety in future blogs.

In the meantime, I am happy to speak to any business, small or large about their health and safety needs, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire and beyond.