Walker, Deborah

Centre for Hazard and Risk Management, Loughborough University, UK

An Evaluation of the Safety Information Centre approach in providing health and safety advice to small firms

Summary

The study investigates the effectiveness of an approach presently in use at two RoSPA-affliated Safety Information Centres designed to help small businesses to set up and operate a simple health and safety management system. The approach is based on the introduction of a health and safety policy and on the assessment of occupational risk and the development of appropriate control measures. The intervention is brief and makes extensive use of self-help. The investigation is based on assessments performed during follow up to 24 companies that had previously received help from one of the two Safety Information Centres. The assessment consisted of interview, inspection of premises, document examination and assessment of training and maintenance standards.

It was found that the Safety Information Centre approach was effective in the majority of cases in helping business managers to produce adequate risk assessments and policy statements and to introduce an effective health and safety management system into the work place. It was noted that many of the necessary arrangements had been in place prior to the Information Centre intervention, and teh possible reasons for this are discussed. It is suggested that the intervention has, in some cases, been effective in bringing these diverse arrangements together and in augmenting them in order to produce a coherent system. There is evidence that it has also developed the necessary knowledge and confidence in the business manager to maintain and develop the system. The limitations of the approach are discussed, as are the circumstances under which it can best be employed.

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