Organisations are legally obliged to obtain, where necessary, the services of a competent person (whether under a contract of employment or otherwise) for the purpose of ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare of their employees.
Achieving something by accident just doesn’t cut it, that’s just luck and you may not be so lucky next time! So competent personnel, armed with the necessary knowledge, skills, training and experience will ensure that you are at the top of your game with your Health & Safety.
After you understand your specific risk profile, follow up by performing a competence gap analysis to find out if you actually have the personnel and resources to completely address your hazards and risks. If not, you would be wise to either train your personnel or to source assistance externally.
Competent Assistance will include:
- Advising the senior management team on H&S matters
- Creating and developing H&S policies and procedures
- Helping managers to implement those policies and procedures
- Legal compliance relating to duties of employers and employees
- Staff training
- Assisting in incident investigation
- Advising on reporting requirements
- Liaising with enforcing authorities, insurance companies and other external bodies
- Participating in H&S committee meetings
- Carrying out H&S audits
- Performance review
There may also be situations whereby you do not have the necessary skills to perform certain tasks and will need to bring in an expert to help.
