Choosing to outsource your health and safety management is an important decision. There are many reasons a company would do this, especially a small to medium-sized business.
While it may seem easier to just forego a health and safety outsourcing service provider or expert, if a member of staff is injured because your workplace is unsafe, you could be hit by legal fees and costly compensation.
The average fine for health and safety prosecutions can be tens of thousands, which can severely affect your bottom line.
Health and safety compliance can be a minefield to navigate, as the rules and regulations are often updated by the government. Here at Peninsula, we have a wide range of health and safety support packages.
This guide will go through the benefits of outsourcing these services and how it can help your business grow.
Reduce costs
Health and safety outsourcing for employers in the UK allows you to save on the costs of running your business.
A big hurdle for many smaller businesses is the prospect of employing someone who is an expert on health and safety legislation is just too expensive to justify.
As well as this, there are many legal requirements that businesses have to meet to employ an in-house expert.
To fully comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 you need to hire a dedicated resource, train them, and so on.
Health and safety outsourcing for businesses that are growing will find this much more cost-effective.
Increased efficiency
With legislation changing regularly, it is hard for your business to keep up with the field.
Having an authorised and regulated consultant will allow your business to have a competent person look at your health and safety procedures.
Having a registered officer look at your business and documents will allow you to focus on issues that are more important to you in the business.
With many services offering health and safety software solutions alongside health and safety advice, it can allow for a more streamlined process.
It allows you to increase your own efficiency and productivity when running the business.
Flexible compliance management
With an expert taking care of your health and safety facilities management, your business will be agile and flexible when any issues arise.
Often consultants will identify issues and resolve them before you are even aware of it. They will become intimate with your business.
They will be constantly checking and updating themselves on legislation, guidance and best practice.
If you spot an issue before a consultant, you call your supporting consultancy who will deal with the problem quickly, and without hassle or fuss.
Reduced risk
Health and safety outsourcing for companies allows you to have a safer workplace. This makes it a more desirable place and less dangerous to work.
You have greater clarity on the real health & safety issues with a consultant. This will help you plan and reduce the risk of non-compliance.
Fines for non-compliance are large and bring damage to your reputation and business. Can you afford the risk of this?
Outsourcing allows you not only reduce the risk to your employees but reduce the risk of financial ramifications that come with non-compliance.
Better business management and reputation
As mentioned before, having great health and safety at work makes it a much more desirable place to work for. This allows you to recruit far better employees and promote a safe culture.
It also improves your reputation in the field. Giving off the right signals to partners, customers and competitors.
Emphasising having a safe workplace shows your business has value, worth and integrity, three factors that set you apart from other businesses in the marketplace.
Less reactive
A consultant allows you to see the bigger picture, not just react to issues as they arise. As a business owner, you may be too close to the processes to see wider-reaching issues.
By being independent, health and safety consultancy can take a step back and look at the bigger picture, offer ideas, practical solutions and be impartial to your issues.
Frees up internal resources
But the most important benefit of outsourcing health and safety services management is the time that you can use in areas more important to your business.
For example, fire safety outsourcing means you are not tied up with fire risk assessments and safety management.
Often finding people in the company to action these things isn’t the best use of company time. The process would not use their skills and their time is better focused elsewhere.
So why not have complete peace of mind by outsourcing your health & safety needs, rather than bolt it on to someone’s already busy role?
Signs you need to outsource health and safety
One of the key things you need to do as a business owner is to identify when you can do things internally or where it would be best to outsource.
Growing a business is a gruelling task and finding the right balance of hiring and outsourcing is essential to allowing the company to develop.
There are some key questions you should ask yourself about you and your business to determine if outsourcing health and safety would be right for you:
- Do you employ a competent person who enables you to meet the current health and safety requirements?
- Do you have a written health and safety policy statement setting out your company’s approach to ensuring the safety of your employees and others who may be affected by your business?
- Does your company have arrangements in place to report injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences?
- Has your company assessed the capabilities and training needs of all employees regarding health and safety and provided adequate health and safety training?
If you answered no to any of the above, this shows that you may not be fully compliant and outsourcing could be hugely beneficial and the next logical step.
Need our help?
With our fantastic health and safety services, we can help to guide you in becoming compliant and help you grow your business. Call us for instant support: 0800 028 2420.
