Implementing an effective health and safety plan is key for increasing employee satisfaction and the delivery of a premium service.
As a contractor, health and safety should be a key priority when undertaking any work. Creating a safe working environment is not only essential for operatives but also for tenants that may be on-site at each job. These procedures are not a one-off task and need to be managed and updated regularly. Involving your team when developing a health and safety plan can create a positive culture and higher levels of adoption while they're out in the field.
The Health and Safety Executive recommends implementing a Plan, Do, Check, and Act approach to help improve current health and safety procedures, take action, and continually review arrangements. Here's a break-down of how to implement this approach:
Plan what you need to do
Developing a plan is essential for keeping on track when implementing a successful health and safety policy. The plan may change along the way, but this is all a part of the process. A health and safety policy should explain how health and safety will be managed, and clearly, state who does what, when, and how.
Do the right things to implement your plan
It's time to put the plan into action and manage its successes and failures along the way. During this time it is important to provide training, protect vulnerable workers, assess risks, report incidents and provide adequate first aid. Keep a record of how your health and safety plan is tracking to develop a golden thread of information.
Check your control measures
It is important to measure and monitor how the health and safety plan is doing by checking that the processes and procedures are working and that risks stay controlled. If any incidents arise, understand what caused them and decide what needs to change in order to address them. Some ways to handle this are to plan regular safety checks, carry out maintenance, provide refresher training and check in with employees for feedback.
Act if your measures are not working
The health and safety plan needs to be regularly reviewed to decide whether they are still effective. Complete the cycle by reviewing measures and implementing new plans if there are any changes to the workplace, if any improvements need to be made, or if something has been learnt from any incidents.
At Plentific, safety for operatives and residents is our joint priority. During the onboarding process, we ensure that our contractors value health and safety as much as we do so that we know they are providing a premium service for our clients. We are proud to have partnered with Safecontractor to ensure our contractors withhold the correct SSIP accreditations. Not only does this increase employee satisfaction, yet it will ensure high-quality work is delivered to the client.
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