• Share on Facebook
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share by email
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share by email

Awareness of health and safety procedures is essential for everyone in any industry. Abigail Cheverst explains why it should be integral to arts organisations at every level.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 all employers have a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and any other person who may be impacted by the work activity. In particular, employers must provide safe systems of work (the way in which jobs are carried out) and a safe workplace with safe equipment, articles and substances. All employers must produce a statement of their health and safety policy and must carry out suitable and sufficient assessments of any risks to the health and safety of employees and other persons. Where there are more than five employees, all such arrangements must be in writing and organisations are advised to regard volunteers as employees for the purposes of health and safety law.

Whatever the size of your organisation, it is vital that you are aware of relevant legislation with regard to health and safety and that you strive to make health and safety an integral part of your organisation at every level. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) produces a range of materials which can be extremely useful in clarifying the requirements of legislation, outlining relevant standards and defining examples of best practice. Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, there is a requirement to appoint a competent person to assist with the discharge of duties under health and safety law; the level of competency required will depend on the size and nature of the undertaking.

Staff health and safety

Three particular issues that arise when considering staff health, safety and welfare are stress, violence in the workplace and work-related ill-health.

Work-related stress (WRS) is common in all types of employment. It can arise due to excessive pressure at work or, conversely, when work is dull and repetitive and lacks stimulation. WRS can lead to adverse physical and psychological effects, which can affect performance, reduce morale and affect staff turnover. Employers should conduct a risk assessment on stress at work in consultation with employees and using quantitative data as appropriate. The HSE produces an excellent guide (HSG 218 Tackling work related stress) on carrying out such an assessment, including comprehensive discussion of the risk factors to watch out for and how these can be addressed. When attempting to tackle WRS, it is vital to talk to employees: adopt an individual approach, find out what is causing the problem and think about what can be done to solve it. Don¡¦t forget to consider organisational culture, as well as factors relating to the nature of the work.

Violence at work is unfortunately another issue which needs to be considered at many workplaces, especially arts organisations where staff deal directly with the public or other service users. Violence at work can carry adverse physical and psychological effects similar to WRS. The latest British crime survey showed that there were 1.3 million incidents of violence at work (assault or threatening behaviour) in 1999 alone. The HSE has produced a comprehensive guide (HSG 229 Work-related violence: case studies) on managing the risk of work-related violence in which they outline and discuss an effective four-stage management approach.

Work-related ill-health is a broad term which covers a variety of situations in which a member of staff is made ill by a work-related condition (or, in some cases, where an existing condition is made worse by work). Clearly, compliance with relevant legislation and HSE guidelines will remove or reduce the chance of work-related ill-health in staff.

To give just a few examples:

- Compliance with the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 and relevant HSE materials, for example 'HSG 38 Lighting at Work', will reduce the risk of staff suffering visual disorders.

- Compliance with the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and relevant HSE materials, for example 'INDG 90 If the task fits', will reduce the risk of staff suffering work-related upper limb disorders (WRULD).

- Compliance with the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1999, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, and relevant HSE materials, for example 'INDG 147 Keep your top on - health risks from working in the sun', will reduce the risk of staff suffering illnesses related to exposure to hazardous substances and the sun's rays.

As an employer (or an organisation working with volunteers), it is in your interests to protect your staff. Further, it is your legal obligation. Organisations undertaking specific high-risk activities, for example pottery or firework displays, will need to be aware of their additional obligations under health and safety law in order to safeguard their staff and the general public as appropriate.

The four Cs

Communication is a vital tool in an effective health and safety management strategy - the dissemination of information, instruction and training is an essential measure to reduce or remove risks. Communication should be appropriate, unambiguous and should take account of any special communication needs. The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 and Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 deal with the legal aspects of consulting with employees.
HSG65 'Successful health and safety management'lists the four Cs of organising for health and safety - control, co-operation, communication and competence. All of these can be effectively applied to the management of staff health and safety in the workplace:

- Control: Establish standards of performance. Allocate responsibilities and secure commitment. Clear supervision structures and managers who lead by example.

- Co-operation: Involve staff in policy formation and review. Establish informal arrangements and formal participative measures as appropriate.

- Communication: Information, instruction and training. Formal and informal consultation with staff.

- Competence: Assess the skills required for the job and ensure these through recruitment, training, supervision and support. Arrange for access to specialist advice as appropriate.

If things do go wrong - or nearly go wrong - you should always analyse what happened and why. Ask staff for their opinions. Consider changing working practices to reduce the risk of the same root causes leading to other accidents. Also think about why people make errors and why they may not consider health and safety to be important, as well as the pressures staff may be under not to take safety precautions seriously. Finally, you should look at the design of the job and the person behind the job, and always attempt to fit the job to the worker and not the other way round.

Abigail Cheverst is a freelance consultant specialising in health and safety for arts organisations. t: 01206 531185; e: {abigail.cheverst@ntlworld.com.}

For HSE books, t: 01787 881165; w: http://www.hsebooks.co.uk. For Stationery Office
(TSO) books on health and safety legislation, t: 020 7394 4200; w: http://www.tso.co.uk