Isn’t H&S just common sense?

These days we often see business owners who know their job inside out, having done it for years where it’s second nature to them, who feel that they don’t need to worry about Health & Safety. They feel those “worst-case scenarios” will never happen to them. But, we don’t live in a perfect world!

Workplace injuries and (unfortunately) deaths do happen, and can happen in any business, in any industry. Businesses that employ staff should have a fit-for purpose working Health & Safety management system. Systems that are implemented with rigor and consistency.

As a Health & Safety consultant I get bombarded with this everyday – “Isn’t it just common sense”? I say YES to that however, we all need to be very mindful of other people’s inabilities toward their “Common Sense” understandings. What may be common sense to one, is not for another.

I was brought up under a common-sense attitude by my Father and his number 10 sized boot up my backside (plus some other verbal stuff around learning and understanding!).

I don’t believe that NZs common sense approach has gone at all - and I still work to it today towards the education and understanding with Health & Safety management.

 

Problems we are faced with today is that business owners are employing people from outside their industry, who lack the basic common-sense skills around managing and operating tools of the trade while at work. For example, active work sites, multi tasking, inattention, phone use and texting while operating plant and machinery etc.

This whole Health & Safety set up and delivery is a process and is not just a 5 minute or a 1 day event. It takes time to cement culture change and running an effective Health & Safety system with your team.

I have been delivering Health & Safety systems to Businesses over the last 20 years with a practical approach and “Common Sense” attitude with excellent outcomes.

I have engaged with industries at a grassroots level initially, with very mixed responses however, with positive outcomes. I think that you would all agree that no one goes to work to injure themselves at all - any working day of the week.

We all need to be doing our little bit to lessen the risk of injury from a personal perspective every day.