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The Health and Safety of Great Britain \\ Be part of the solution

Geoffrey Podger

Chief Executive

Health and Safety Executive

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Our Mission

\\ The prevention of death, injury and ill health to those at work and those affected by work activities.

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Drivers for a new strategy

\\ Lead from new HSE Board, responding to:

\\ Slowing of H&S performance improvement

\\ Continuing rise in numbers of small businesses and workplaces with non-unionised structures

\\ Devaluing of H&S ‘brand’

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Past strengths; new challenges

\\ Evolutionary; building in part on themes from 2004 strategy, for instance:

Addressing whole H&S system, recognising the need to work with and through others;

Progressing the co-regulator partnership with LAs Approaching the particular needs of SMEs Raising the standard for sensible risk & risk management Recognising the role of communications in its own right

\\ Being counted; HSE will lead but cannot do it all. Others must not always look to HSE for the answers.

\\ Inclusive; forceful challenge to others to play their role, make their contribution and ‘be part of the solution.

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Strategy consultation

\\ Draft launched for consultation on 3 Dec 2008

\\ 700 attended 7 regional workshops through Jan

\\ Over 200 responses to consultation process

\\ Consultation revealed:• widespread support for the 10 goals;• belief in greater role from insurance industry

and education sector;• interest in relationship with prof. bodies• expectations about level and consistency of

enforcement activity

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Final strategy

\\ Consists of 10 strategic goals

\\ Final version given media launch on 3 June

\\ Short film can be seen on HSE website

\\ Delivery is now the key issue

\\ Co-ordinated action towards agreed common goals required from all stakeholders

\\ Business plans based round the 10 strategic goals should now be centre stage

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Investigations and securing justice

Our goal:

\\ To investigate work-related accidents and ill health and take enforcement action to prevent harm and secure justice when appropriate

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The need for strong leadership

Our goal:

\\ To encourage strong leadership in championing the importance of, and a common sense approach to, health and safety in the workplace.

Our goal:

\\ To motivate focus on the core aims of health and safety and, by doing so, to help risk makers and managers distinguish between real health and safety issues and trivial or ill-informed criticism.

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Building competence

Our goal:

\\ To encourage an increase in competence, which will enable greater ownership and profiling of risk, thereby promoting sensible and proportionate risk management.

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Involving the workforce

Our goal:

\\ To reinforce the promotion of worker involvement and consultation in health and safety matters throughout unionised and non-unionised workplaces of all sizes.

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Creating healthier, safer workplaces

Our goal:

\\ To specifically target key health issues and to identify and work with those bodies best placed to bring about a reduction in the incidence rate and number of cases of work related ill health.

Our goal:

\\ To set priorities and, within those priorities, to identify which activities, their length and scale, deliver a significant reduction in the rate and number of deaths and accidents.

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Customising support for SMEs

Our goal:

\\ To adapt and customise approaches to help the increasing numbers of SMEs in different sectors comply with their health and safety obligations.

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Avoiding catastrophe

Our goal:

\\ To reduce the likelihood of low frequency, high impact catastrophic incidents while ensuring that Great Britain maintains its capabilities in those industries strategically important to the country’s economy and social infrastructure.

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Taking a wider perspective

Our goal:

\\ To take account of wider issues that impact on health and safety as part of our continuing drive to improve Great Britain’s health and safety performance.

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Take the pledge

We the undersigned:

\\ Agree to play our part in reducing the numbers of work related deaths, injuries and ill-health in Great Britain

\\ Call on employers to put health and safety at the heart of what they do and to take a common sense approach to health and safety

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\\ Commit to debunking myths around health and safety that trivialise the impact of injuries, ill-health and deaths on individuals and their families

\\ Recognise the importance of health and safety in difficult economic times and the dangers of complacency

\\ Pledge to work with the Health and Safety Executive and it’s partners to Be Part of the Solution!

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Thank you