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Introduction
Establishing responsibilities and relationships within the workplace is a very important part of securing
safe working practices, and promoting a culture of safety.
To secure and maintain a safe workplace, employers need to ensure that everyone from senior
management to individual employees is aware of their responsibilities for safety, and acts accordingly.
To help create a positive safety culture, remember 'the 4 Cs':
Control
Communication
Co-operation
Competence
Control
There are three key aspects to establishing control over safety in the workplace.
3. Enforce Compliance
Management needs to ensure that everyone at work is held accountable for his or her actions
(primarily through supervision), and that there is some form of penalty if they fail to comply.
The employer, manager, etc., will usually need to have a clear penalty system, in
case anyone does not comply.
For employees there is usually a disciplinary procedure with the possibility,
ultimately, of dismissal.
For contractors there may be financial penalties and/or terminating their
o
contract.
Allowing specific people to operate certain vehicles, or to undertake vehiclerelated activities such as maintenance, can help employers or managers control risks.
Communication
Good communication within an organisation helps secure and maintain a safe workplace.
It is important to have strong lines of communication, so that everyone is clear about their
responsibilities, and so that any changes spread quickly across the whole organisation.
Information that needs to be communicated includes:
Feedback to employees on how well they have complied with safety policy.
Everyone in the workplace, including contractors, should be encouraged to take an active interest in
safety issues. Everyone should be given the chance to express views or concerns.
Where there are trade union appointed safety representatives, employers have specific duties to
consult with them, and to set up a Health and Safety committee if two or more safety representatives
request one.
Co-operation
Employees have a legal duty to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others
who may be affected by what they do at work.
Employees also have a legal duty to co-operate with their employers, to enable them to comply with
their health and safety responsibilities.
A Health & Safety Committee can be an effective way of enlisting the formal participation and cooperation of everyone in the workplace in carrying out their Health & Safety responsibilities.
Competence
Employers need to be sure that all everyone is capable of doing their work in a proper way (i.e. one
that ensures their own safety and that of other people).
In a large organisation, senior management need to be satisfied that subordinate managers and
supervisors are capable of organising a safe workplace. They need to be able to:
Medical examinations;
Proper management and supervision is needed to ensure that the competence of employees,
contractors, etc., is maintained and developed.
The employer at a workplace should liaise and co-operate with the employers of visiting drivers, to coordinate the measures that need to be taken for everyone to comply with their Health & Safety
responsibilities. For example:
To provide suitable equipment, for example for drivers delivering at retail outlets
to unload safely.
To ensure that vehicles and the ground they have to use are suitable for safe
working.