Health and safety advisers must be competent
July 6th 2009
Health and safety advisers need accreditation to ensure they meet appropriate standards of professional competence, the Chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said.
Judith Hackitt commented at a gathering of health and safety professionals:
"We do believe that there is a need for an accreditation system within the competency framework for health and safety professionals. We have no interest in HSE directly controlling or regulating such a scheme, but we are very keen to ensure that all professional bodies who establish an accreditation scheme do so in a way that measures competence in practice, not just acquired knowledge.
"Accreditation must include continuing professional development as a requirement as well as a means of sanction, with real teeth, for anyone who acts unethically in their professional activities – including providing inappropriate advice or guidance."
She said that those involved in health and safety needed to be competent to assess and manage risk by applying common sense, taking a proportionate approach and exercising judgment about what is reasonable.
The importance of this has been highlighted by a study for the Federation of Small Businesses which has found that 60 per cent of firms find risk assessment difficult – making professional advisers a crucial part of the health and safety system.
HSE wants employers to have access to competent, sensible advice from professional advisors so that risks are properly managed and unproductive measures and paperwork are not pursued.
Connaught fully supports this drive to improve competency standards for advisers, and this is reflected in its Responseline service, whose users can be confident that the information they receive is of the very highest standard.
The Responseline team can provide technical advise to employers on the full range of compliance subjects including food hygiene and environmental management as well as health and safety.