It's easy to ignore health and safety regulations, especially when every newspaper in the country is printing stories about "elf and safety" and how it's ruining everybody's fun for no particular reason. In the past few months alone, we've seen selfie sticks, Christmas decorations, wedding rings, and sorts of other things banned by business owners and local authorities who cite health and safety as an excuse.
But these stories are absurd, and they should not be taken as a reflection of real H&S laws, which are in place to save lives and prevent injuries. These laws are tremendously important, and a few farcical news stories shouldn't permit you and your employees to ignore genuine H&S measures like safety harnesses and fall arrest systems.
Here, then, are three excellent reasons to abide by health and safety regulations (and height safety regulations in particular):
- You could be prosecuted. An engineering company in South Wales was recently fined £20,000 after a welder fell two metres and ended up on crutches for nine weeks. And it won't necessarily stop with a fine; other offenders have served time in prison.
- You could be prosecuted, even if no accidents occur. In a previous blog post, we told you about a Berkshire firm who received a £10,000 fine after somebody took a photograph of their unsafe work. Nobody was hurt, and no accidents occurred, but the company was fined anyway because they had endangered people's lives. Which brings us to reason #3...
- People could die. Really, this should be the only reason you need. If you don't observe basic health and safety laws - which, as we mentioned above, are simply there to protect people - then people could lose their lives, and you'll be responsible for it.
Visit SafetyLiftinGear's Height Safety department now and make sure you have all the safety equipment you need.
0117 9381 600
