HEALTH AND SAFETY
EXECUTIVE News Release (C017:07) issued by The Government News
Network on 29 October 2007
Directors have
taken the initiative in drawing up their own practical, common
sense health and safety guidelines. These will remind Directors
across organisations of all sizes it is their responsibility to
lead on health and safety and establish polices and practices that
make it an integral part of their culture and values. The Health
and Safety Commission (HSC) and the Institute of Directors (IoD)
will today publish 'Leading health and safety at work'
written by directors, for directors.
Supporting the new guidance Health and Safety Minister Lord
McKenzie of Luton said, "The health and safety of employees
is a moral and ethical obligation for each and every employer and
this must be driven home from Board level. Only this way will we
ensure that health and safety is taken seriously. This guidance
clearly sets out the agenda for effective leadership of health and safety."
New Chair of HSC, Judith Hackitt agreed: "It is visible
leadership from the top of an organisation which truly makes for
an effective health and safety culture which in turn delivers good
health and safety performance and much more. I am still confounded
by the number of people who see 'health and safety' as a
barrier to doing things, as experience and evidence shows that the
reverse is true.
"The challenge before us is changing behaviour. This
guidance makes it clear what directors need to do but it is their
action and delivery which will really count".
Director General of the IoD, Miles Templeman, added: "The
Institute of Directors (IoD) believes that it's vital that
board members lead the approach of their organisation to health
and safety, whatever the environment they operate in.
"Too often health and safety are words used as excuses by
organisations that have not developed their thinking in this area.
The IoD hopes that the new guidance can help organisations
integrate health and safety into business decisions in an
appropriate way, not one that stifles appropriate
activity."
The guidance is written 'by directors for
directors' and offers them straightforward practical advice
on how to; Plan, Deliver, Monitor and Review, health and safety in
the workplace. Production of the guidance was overseen by an IoD
led steering group with nominees from the Confederation of British
Industry (CBI), Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), Local Government
Association (LGA), National Council for Voluntary Organisations
(NCVO), NHS Confederation, Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Warwick
Law School, University of Warwick
English: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg417.pdf
Welsh: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/welsh/indg417w.pdf
-Ends-
Note to editors
1. 'Leading health and safety
at work' will be launched at the Institute of Directors, 116
Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5ED on Monday 29 October 2007.
2. Speakers at the event will be: Lord McKenzie of Luton,
Parliamentary Under Secretary, Department for Work and pensions,
Judith Hackitt, Chair, HSC, Miles Templeman, Director General,
Institute of Directors and Michael Large, Vice Chairman, Institute
of Directors.
About IoD
3. The IoD (Institute of Directors) was founded in 1903 and
obtained a Royal Charter in 1906. The IoD is a non-party political
organisation with upwards of 52,000 members in the United Kingdom
and overseas. Membership includes directors from right across the
business spectrum - from media to manufacturing, e-business to the
public and voluntary sectors. Members include CEOs of large
corporations as well as entrepreneurial directors of start-up companies.
4. The IoD offers a wide range of business services which include
business centre facilities (including ten UK regional centres
[three in London, Reading, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester,
Nottingham, Edinburgh and Belfast] and one each in Paris and
Brussels), conferences, networking events, issues-led guides and
literature, as well as free access to business information and
advisory services and a comprehensive Information Centre. The IoD
places great emphasis on director development and has established
a certified qualification for directors - Chartered Director - as
well as running specific board-level and director-level training
and individual career mentoring programmes.
* In addition, the IoD provides an effective voice to represent
the interests of its members to government and key opinion-formers
at the highest levels. These include ministers, constituency MPs,
Select Committee members and senior civil servants. IoD policies
and views are actively promoted to the national, regional and
trade media.
* For further information, visit our website: http://www.iod.com
About HSC
1. The Health and Safety Commission is responsible for health and
safety regulation in Great Britain. The Health and Safety
Executive and local government are the enforcing authorities who
work in support of the Commission.
2. The HSC has overall responsibility for occupational health and
safety regulations in Great Britain. The Commission consists of 10
people nominated by bodies with an interest in workplace health
and safety. They are sponsored by the Department for Work and
Pensions (DWP). The DWP minister for occupational health and
safety is Lord McKenzie of Luton.
Public enquiries
HSE's InfoLine 0845
3450055
Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG
HSE information and news releases can be accessed on the Internet
http://www.hse.gov.uk/