Hi all, I am Paul and I have worked within the Construction industry for 20 years now and am about to start up my own small to medium size joinery construction firm specialising in the retail fit out sector.
I am currently seeking some expert health and safety advice to get me off the ground and ensure I've suitable processes and procedures in place from day one. What i'd like is a bit of guidance as to the duties I need to ensure I fulfill. I could do with an audit checklist covering all of the regs, from the "do you have a company policy and is it signed", to the "do you provide asbestos awareness training" and then onto onsite procedures (PPE, accident investigation etc).
From working in the industry for a while, I've an idea of the training and paper work I need in place, but a good checklist would help me to identify where I really do not fully appreciate health and safety and the shortfalls to which I need to act on with competent advice.
I feel quite comfortable asking on this form than asking a company direct who might try to sell me a service I do not need. Any help in respect of the above would be thoroughly appreciated.
Thanks
Paul
Compliance
Moderator: Moderators
- bernicarey
- Anorak Extraordinaire
- Posts: 8973
- Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:50 am
- 15
- Twitter: @bernicarey
- Industry Sector: Consultancy/Training
- Occupation: Safety, Health, Environment and Fire Consultant.
- Location: The heart of the East Midlands...
- Has thanked: 76 times
- Been thanked: 300 times
- Contact:
Re: Compliance
Hi Paul
You'll find a lot of what you need on the HSE website, equally, there's a lot of info over in the Main Site Downloads section.
If you've not visited the main site yet, click on the logo in the top left.
The HSE would have you believe everything is easy as ABC, but that's not exactly true. It depends if you have the time and knowledge required to do it all.
I have a client who was visited by the local authority Inspector and given 2 months to sort his business out. After 3 weeks of creating a paperwork mountain for himself, he reconsidered his position and contacted me to sort it out. By the time the inspector came back 5 weeks later, we had everything in place with a 20 page H&S manual instead of the 88 page one he had copied from a friend's business.....
Personally, as an independent Consultant, I'd advise you to stay well clear of the large national coverage consultancy companies as there is an element of hard sell with some of them, combined with supply of stock materials that may well be of no use to you and your business.
Having a check list isn't much good to you, unless you have the knowledge to understand the requirements behind the 'check list' and the time to filter out the wheat from the chaff.
A bit like saying 'Do we have fire extinguishers?' to which the answer is 'yes'.
But often nobody asks the supplementary questions, are they the right types, in the right places?
If you're going into the Retail Fit Out business, you're presumably going to need some scheme accreditations in order to get the work from larger contractors. Which one(s) are you going for?
I would recommend you look at the OSHCR and contact some consultants local to you. Anyone worth their money should be wiling to give you an initial hour or so for free, to have a proper discussion about your business and ensure you get the service you need.
You'll find a lot of what you need on the HSE website, equally, there's a lot of info over in the Main Site Downloads section.
If you've not visited the main site yet, click on the logo in the top left.
The HSE would have you believe everything is easy as ABC, but that's not exactly true. It depends if you have the time and knowledge required to do it all.
I have a client who was visited by the local authority Inspector and given 2 months to sort his business out. After 3 weeks of creating a paperwork mountain for himself, he reconsidered his position and contacted me to sort it out. By the time the inspector came back 5 weeks later, we had everything in place with a 20 page H&S manual instead of the 88 page one he had copied from a friend's business.....
Personally, as an independent Consultant, I'd advise you to stay well clear of the large national coverage consultancy companies as there is an element of hard sell with some of them, combined with supply of stock materials that may well be of no use to you and your business.
Having a check list isn't much good to you, unless you have the knowledge to understand the requirements behind the 'check list' and the time to filter out the wheat from the chaff.
A bit like saying 'Do we have fire extinguishers?' to which the answer is 'yes'.
But often nobody asks the supplementary questions, are they the right types, in the right places?
If you're going into the Retail Fit Out business, you're presumably going to need some scheme accreditations in order to get the work from larger contractors. Which one(s) are you going for?
I would recommend you look at the OSHCR and contact some consultants local to you. Anyone worth their money should be wiling to give you an initial hour or so for free, to have a proper discussion about your business and ensure you get the service you need.
- Alexis
- Official HSfB Legend
- Posts: 48846
- Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 10:52 am
- 20
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexisHSfB
- Location: West Lothian
- Has thanked: 2823 times
- Been thanked: 340 times
- Contact:
Re: Compliance
Hello Paul and another warm welcome from me to HSfB.
Many thanks to Berni for his informative post.
Just directing you to one of the links in our main site pages which may help also. https://www.healthandsafetytips.co.uk/d ... and-safety
Good luck with your new venture and look forward to hearing from you along the way.
Many thanks to Berni for his informative post.
Just directing you to one of the links in our main site pages which may help also. https://www.healthandsafetytips.co.uk/d ... and-safety
Good luck with your new venture and look forward to hearing from you along the way.
"A candle loses none of its light by lighting another candle."
Hundreds of FREE Health & Safety Downloads Here
Hundreds of FREE Health & Safety Downloads Here
-
- Member
- Posts: 253
- Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2016 2:15 pm
- 7
- Has thanked: 12 times
- Been thanked: 65 times
Re: Compliance
Have to agree with Bernicarey comment ------
Long winded policies are fine, but think about being more succinct when communicating to staff. A 3 page policy, procedure, RA etc on driving and distractive technologies can be reduced to some driver's do's and don'ts.
I deal with transport and often a company will get a package of policies & procedures provided to them by a big name consultancy. It's often cut'n'paste and even found previous company names have not been edited out. As above, on the check lists, having found RAs and procedures for dealing with things like trailers and un/coupling, only to find the company have no trailers. The big consultant's response being that it was included incase the client expands their business!bernicarey wrote: ↑Fri Dec 14, 2018 2:55 pm to stay .. clear of the large national coverage consultancy companies as there is an element of hard sell with some of them, combined with supply of stock materials that may well be of no use to you and your business.
Having a check list isn't much good to you, unless you have the knowledge to understand the requirements behind the 'check list' and the time to filter out the wheat from the chaff.
Long winded policies are fine, but think about being more succinct when communicating to staff. A 3 page policy, procedure, RA etc on driving and distractive technologies can be reduced to some driver's do's and don'ts.