Insurance professionals generally view risk management as an important tool in helping to shape insurance solutions for a range of businesses. In particular, it has been deployed to excellent effect to improve the standard of health and safety within the workplace. For companies, the result is not only an increase in safety but also the creation of a more efficient use of resources, technology and staff.
The origin of improvements to health and safety in the workplace can be traced back to the early 20th century, when the Government introduced legislation such as the Factories Act to combat the appalling deficiencies in safety within the UK's workplaces. Injuries and fatalities were commonplace. Many were attributed to the major peril of the explosion of poorly designed, maintained and operated steam boilers. As a consequence, the law stipulated that a qualified and competent inspector must examine boilers at designated periods to ensure that they were working properly and safe to operate.
Today, examinations fall under the remit of engineering insurance and inspection companies' dedicated field forces of engineer surveyors. These usually specialise in one of several disciplines, such as electrical or lifting equipment. The machinery examined can vary from a café boiler in a restaurant, to a power press in a manufacturing plant. But the basic principle is the same. The item must be in safe working order and likely to remain so until the next examination.At one time, engineering insurance packages were mainly aimed at legal compliance. Today, businesses have higher expectations. They look for insurance and inspection packages that meet their specific needs - and these can vary markedly from sector to sector. Firms operating in the global economy focus on the great marketing mantra 'differentiation and value'. A bespoke insurance policy often represents a differentiator, while value is delivered through cost effective and appropriately targeted inspection regimes.
Legislative changes
In the last few years, there has been a change in health and safety legislation. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98) and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) are risk-based regulations stemming from European Directives.
These laws transferred the onus of engineering inspections from a prescriptive to a largely objective viewpoint. Instead of examining a machine in isolation and passing it safe for the next 12 months for example, there is a different emphasis to the examination. Assessing risk means giving consideration to other factors: environment, frequency and use of machine, the skills and training of staff, ancillary equipment, etc. Depending on the level of risk, the engineer surveyor may recommend lengthening or shortening the period between examinations.
Richard Morgan, the Technical Director of the Safety Assessment Federation (SAFed), says that European risk based legislation has helped the industry develop a more effective and sophisticated inspection service. "The result has been the introduction of a range of services, products and solutions tailored to an individual client's needs."
In business, the introduction of legislative change is often viewed negatively. A particular dilemma for management is achieving and maintaining compliance with new regulations, when day to day business operations leave little time for detailed scrutiny of the requirements. Other than for the largest businesses, the prospect of adequate compliance is debatable.
There is ample evidence that negligence in health and safety management will result in employers facing the full wrath of the law. The biggest fear is criminal prosecution. The government is determined to raise the accountability of business leaders who fail to implement required safety measures. The new corporate manslaughter bill that is in the offing will make it easier for a firm's directors to be prosecuted. It can be interpreted as an indictment of the existing law; there have only been three successful prosecutions of individuals in the last 30 years.
Savings
Engineering risk assessment is not just about compliance with the law. Business leaders are increasingly appreciating the positive aspects of securing a safe working environment. Engineer surveyors can advise on the most cost-effective use of maintenance resources, helping to achieve savings. While they may recommend a comprehensive range of tests for a vital item of plant which poses a high risk, they will also be able to identify where it is unnecessary to waste time servicing a low risk ancillary machine.
Risk assessment is not an exact science and accidents in the workplace will always happen. But it is a powerful discipline that can certainly help organisations plan and implement a cost effective, safe best-practice regime that keeps accidents to a minimum.
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Phil Godwin is business manager, Allianz Cornhill Engineering
E-mail: marketing@allianzcornhillengineering.co.uk
AIRMIC COMMENT
Gary Marshall, group risk manager, The Polestar Group, comments: "The Health & Safety Executive in the UK requires companies to carry out a high level of inspections to support their day-to-day operating practices. However, beyond those specified requirements, the situation becomes more complicated, with the need to decide exactly what should be inspected and how frequently.
"Much will depend upon a company's individual workplace as to whether, for example, there are regular inspections for potential 'slip and trip' risks, soundness of machinery guarding, or protection against manual handling risks. There is always the likelihood that employees will take a short cut in their working practices, and this happens most frequently where workplaces are not inspected and controlled. Therefore, management need to be aware of the working conditions at all times, building into this suitable inspection and maintenance procedures as well as strategies designed to increase employees' own awareness of risk.
"Driving down the frequency and severity of accidents means getting back to the basics of how things are run and how you make them safe. You have got to adopt inherently strong procedures for checking and control.
"The driver for improving workplace safety is not simply to avoid corporate manslaughter but to stop people getting injured at work, in line with the stated aim of this year's European week for health and safety".
HOW ENGINEER SURVEYORS CAN HELP
NEW HSE SAFETY PLAN
On 4 October, the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) published its Strategic Plan 2001/04, which sets out the key priorities for reducing work-related injuries and ill-health over the next three years.
The targets are to:
In order to achieve the targets, the HSC has selected eight priority programmes covering hazards or sectors of industry where major improvements are most needed. These are: falls from height; workplace transport; musculoskeletal disorders; work-related stress; agriculture; construction; health services, and slips and trips
