Employers have a legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work (NI) Order 1978 to take reasonable care of the health, safety and welfare at work of all of their employees. Managers have a legal duty, on behalf of their employer to help them meet their legal duties. Managers have responsibilities and are accountable for their actions or inaction.  Where they can assign responsibility to others, they cannot give away accountability.

When the repercussions of not meeting their legal duty could be unlimited fines and or imprisonment, it important that managers are properly trained to be able to carry out their duties.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides us with a wealth of guidance and the Management Standards Guidance is no exception.  As a benchmarking exercise let’s see how your organisation shapes up to the HSE’s six Management Standards. 

Demands

The standard required: Employees indicate that they are able to cope with the demands of their jobs because:the standard required. Employees indicate that they are able to cope with the demands of their jobs because:

• The organisation provides employees with adequate and achievable demands in relation to the agreed hours of work.
• Peoples skills and abilities are matched to the job demands.
• Jobs are designed to be within the capabilities of employees.
• Employees’ concerns about their work environment are addressed.

Control 

The standard required: Employees indicate that they are able to cope with the demands of their jobs by having input in how they carry out their work tasks because:

• Where possible, employees have control over their pace of work e.g. have a say over when breaks can be taken.
• Employees are encouraged to use their skills and initiative to do their work.
• Where possible, employees are encouraged to develop new skills to help them undertake new and challenging pieces of work.
• The organisation encourages employees to develop their skills.
• Employees are consulted over their work patterns.

Support 

The standard is: Employees indicate that they receive adequate information and support from their colleagues and superiors because:

• The organisation has policies and procedures to adequately support employees.
• Systems are in place to enable and encourage managers to support their staff.
• Systems are in place to enable and encourage employees to support their colleagues.
• Employees know what support is available and how and when to access it.
• Employees know how to access the required resources to do their job.
• Employees receive regular and constructive feedback.

Relationships 

The standard is: Employees indicate that they are not subjected to unacceptable behaviours, e.g. bullying at work because:

• The organisation promotes positive behaviours at work to avoid conflict and ensure fairness.
• Employees share information relevant to their work.
• The organisation has agreed policies and procedure to prevent or resolve unacceptable behaviour.
• Systems are in place to enable and encourage managers to deal with unacceptable behaviour.
• Systems are in place to enable and encourage employees to report unacceptable behaviour.

Role

The standard is: Employees indicate that they understand their role and responsibilities. Because the organisation:

• Ensures that as far as possible, the different requirements it places upon employees is compatible.
• Provides information to enable employees to understand their responsibilities.
• Ensures that, as far as possible, the requirements it places upon the employees are clear.
• Has systems are in place to enable employees to raise concerns about any uncertainties or conflicts they have in their role and responsibilities.

Change

The standard is – Employees indicate that the organisation engages them frequently when undergoing organisational change.  Because the organisation:

• Provides the employees with timely information to enable them to understand the reasons for proposed changes.
• Ensures adequate employee consultation on changes and provides opportunities for employees to influence proposals.
• Makes employees aware of the probable impact of any changes to their jobs.  If necessary, employees are given training to support any changes in their jobs.
• Provides information on the timetables for changes.
• Ensures employees have access to relevant support during changes.

If you have read the above and feel that you have fully met the requirements of the standard, then congratulations, keep up the good work. If you have fallen short and have a journey to go to meet those standards, the best place to start is to provide relevant training.  If NPTNI can help you with this, please get in touch.

Remember: Health and Safety Management is driven by continual improvement.