The danger arises...
Published Date: 30th March 2009
Health and safety is an extremely broad topic. As and indication of this just take a look at the many regulations that exist.
We start with the original statute, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. To comply with various EU directives we then have additional regulations, such as the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, LOLER, PUWER, CoSHH, PPE Regulations, etc. Then there are the regulations and guidance pertaining to construction sites, those regarding noise, vibration, working at height, confined spaces, etc., etc. And now we have the Registration, Assessment, Evaluation and Restriction of Chemicals Regulation, better known as REACH, with its 800+ pages and many thousands of pages of guidance.
Can any single person honestly believe that they can know all that is necessary to know about each and every aspect?
One could argue that this is similar to the situation that exists with medicine. We have the generalist, i.e. the G.P., who knows something about many topics. Backing him up are the many consultants, each specialising in one particular aspect of medicine, be it the cardiologist, neurologist, brain surgeon, etc., etc. The G.P.’s function is then to deal with the simpler problems and to act as a gateway, facilitating access for the patient to the relevant specialist.
No-one would criticise a G.P. for referring the patient to the specialist. Indeed, the criticism would be more likely to arise were the G.P. not to do so, particularly if that then led to the patient not receiving the treatment that was necessary to deal with his or her problem. Why then does management so often expect the health and safety adviser to be able to deal with everything and react negatively when the adviser suggests the involvement of a specialist?
What is important, therefore, is that the health and safety practitioner (who may in their own right be a specialist in one or two particular aspects of health and safety) recognises when that specialist help is needed and can access this, rather than assume that every aspect is something that they have adequate knowledge of and can deal with themselves.
The title to this article was obviously not complete. The full sentence should read: “The danger arises when you don’t know that you don’t know.” That is when it is all too easy to make assumptions and take action – with the best of intentions – that can actually make a problem worse.
So perhaps those working in health and safety need to make it clear to management that it is in the organisation’s interest to recognise the breadth and complexity of health and safety and to ensure that their system is such that access to specialist support is available as and when needed.
Next week: Inhalation versus Dermal Exposure.
This article was provided by Chris Packham of EnviroDerm Services (UK) Ltd. EnviroDerm are a specialist consultancy training provider in the fields of risk assessment, risk management, skin care and skin management. EnviroDerm have a wealth of knowledge and experience that they share brilliantly within their course presentation.