October 2015 – Health & Safety
In this issue of the magazine we relate the remarkable story of one contractor’s experience of being prosecuted for health and safety failings.
It’s remarkable for several reasons, chief of which is the way in which the company responded to enforcement action and the inevitable prosecution.
Instead of taking up a defensive attitude behind a barricade of legal correspondence, the company proactively engaged with the HSE, even carrying out its own investigation.
The company was fined thousands of pounds and two employees lost their jobs. But its reputation not only survived intact but was even enhanced by the way the company behaved.
Many contractors find it all too easy to spout pious platitudes about how committed they are to health & safety – even when their health and safety records suggest otherwise.
But this company, in co-operating with the HSE, has demonstrated real sincerity in its commitment to health and safety.
Moreover, the company has learned valuable lessons and taken positive action to close loopholes in its management systems.
This industry needs more people like these.
David Taylor
Editor
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