There is one key insight, based on research, that underpins The Leadership and Worker Involvement Toolkit. When a business benefits from good leadership, and combines this with action to involve the workforce, then a step change in health and safety performance is enabled.
Whether you are a worker, a supervisor, a construction manager or you run your own business, this toolkit contains something for you. For example;
For workers there are pages to help you find the information you need.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/lwit/for-workers.htm?ebul=gd-cons/jun11&cr=6
If you are a health and safety adviser or consultant, check out the information, training packs and assessment tools that this toolkit provides.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/lwit/info.htm?ebul=gd-cons/jun11&cr=7
This is not about technical improvements in machinery safety, or about improving health and safety management systems. This is about harnessing the value and creativity of people at work in construction. It is about getting the very best out of the plant and procedures that you use on your project, whilst minimising the potential for harm.
Leadership and Worker Involvement strategies should be used to prevent accidents, ill health, harm and loss happening on site. Leaders need to learn from those involved in the work activities, to gather information about conditions on a site. Leaders should do this to find out both how poor conditions may cause health and safety problems, and how individuals can be encouraged to work safely, all the time.
This is important because:
- The full range of causes of accidents, injuries or ill health on your construction site are not immediately obvious.
- Blaming the individual worker may not only be unfair, it may also mean you overlook the real cause (e.g. a business decision, environmental reasons, inadequate PPE).
In order to prevent the same incident happening again you must explore all potential causes. Engaging with your workers will help you get to the root cause of your health and safety issues and learn from your own and your workers' mistakes. Because they are present when an accident happens, workers are often in the best position to identify the many factors which contribute to causing accidents.
Engaging with workers to explore causes also:
- Reinforces the message that unsafe practice will not be tolerated
- Stops poor practice from becoming a habit
- Helps you to target resources at genuine causes
- Lets you identify and learn from good practice.
Ed.
