Last updated on November 12th, 2010 at 03:00 pm

Many small business owners will roll their eyes when talking about health and safety, not because they do not think it is worth while but because they read articles in the newspapers about silly things that are being stopped “because of health and safety”.  We have all read these kinds of articles, for example “children are banned from playing tag in the playground”, “ladders are banned in workplaces”, “conkers being banned” and so on.

In the authors experience much of the Health and Safety rules can be common sense, for example I have read of prosecutions under the H&S legislation over people falling from ladders that are not secure or were put up at the wrong angle, of people standing on the forks of a fork lift truck and being lifted up to get items from high shelves, of people being injured after tripping over trailing cables and many other workplace related accidents.  When you think about it, all of the above prosecutions could have been avoided – a simple case of training on how to use a ladder for example and making sure that the worker knows that it should be secured and at the right angle, or using a set of steps when getting items from high shelves or making sure that cables are either covered, are laid against a wall so that people can not trip over them or even are marked in hazard warning tape so are visible.

There are many elements to making sure that you do not fall foul of H&S laws, these range from carrying out risk assessements, eliminating problem areas, making sure that controls are in place right through to providing protective equipment.  Really though it comes down to making sure that you are managing the risk to your employees, visitors to your workplace and clients.  If you are not sure about the best way to do this I would suggest that you contact some health and safety consultants such as Stallard Kane Associates who are based in the East Midlands but have clients across the UK.  They will be able to carry out assessments of your risks and general health and safety audits along with helping you to establish a health and safety management system that suits your business.