Occupational Hygiene : Why Use Our Service?

Why Do You Need to Use an Occupational Health and Hygiene Service?
There are three main reasons why organisations should consider occupational hygiene as an integral part of their short and long term health and safety plan:

  • Humanitarian
  • Economic
  • Legal

Humanitarian
An organisation cannot operate without a workforce; therefore they should be valued as important assets. If employees can be kept safe and in good health the workforce’s moral is higher, the relationship with management is better if they believe they are important and appreciated by the organisation.

Employers not only have a common law duty of care, but also a moral duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees.

Economic
Failure to protect health safety and welfare could not only lead to loss of quality of life for employees, but also to loss of efficiency, productivity, profitability, credibility and increased insurance premiums for the organisation. The cost of accidents and ill health are far reaching fines from prosecution, legal fees, lost production as investigations take place to the installation of incorrect safety measures such as inadequate Local Exhaust Ventilation all hit the profits of an organisation. Careful management can ensure adequate cover and in many cases cut costs and increase production. It must also be remembered that a healthy workforce is a happy workforce, which can be instrumental in reducing absenteeism.

Legal
There are many pieces of legislation which are concerned with health and safety within the workplace including:

  • The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974
  • The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (orig. 1992)
  • The Workplace ( Health Safety & Welfare ) Regulations 1992
  • The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
  • The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
  • The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (orig. 1989)

These are used within our department on a day to day basis therefore we can easily identify what affects your organisation and what is required for you comply with the legislation.

Failure to comply with statutory duties is a criminal offence and can lead to inspections by the HSE, improvement/prohibition notices, prosecution and fines(which if the case is heard in the magistrates court could be up to £20,000 or if referred on indictment to crown court an unlimited amount).

Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 allows the prosecution of individuals if the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or has been attributable to any neglect on the part of the accused. This means that individuals, directors, safety representatives etc can be subject to fines or even imprisonment if they are found guilty.

As Occupational Health and Hygiene is part of the NHS, profit is very much a secondary objective to the level of service provided therefore the prices are competitive and reflect the service given as opposed to ensuring a healthy profit.

Managing your needs using our service will not only show a commitment to achieving high standards of health and safety but could also improve the health and safety culture, moral and motivation of the organisation as well as productivity and profitability. Can you afford not to use us?

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Why Use Our Service?