When it comes to health and safety support, SMEs are one of our biggest client bases, mainly because small businesses don’t always have the resources, financially or otherwise, to support having their own in-house health and safety team.
When a business has five or more employees, they are required by law to have a competent advisor when it comes to health and safety in the workplace.
Though larger companies will usually seek their own internal department to deal with this, smaller businesses – particularly start-ups – will find it more beneficial and less strain on their resources to outsource support from a health and safety consultancy.
Getting external support for your business has many benefits over hiring an internal team or individual. In this blog, we’ll discuss the benefits of outsourced health and safety management, giving you a better understanding of how Guardian Support can support your business.
Why Do Small Businesses Need Health and Safety Management
The Management of Health and Safety At Work Regulations 1999 requires every workplace to appoint someone in the role of ‘Competent Person’ when it comes to remaining compliant and safe. When deciding upon such a person for your workplace, there are many factors that need to be considered to ensure that you have the best person(s) for the job.
The benefits of outsourcing this role, rather than looking in-house, are huge for your business and should be taken into consideration when making the decision. Here is why your business could benefit from outsourcing your competent person to handle health and safety requirements for your particular business:
It’s required by law
As mentioned above, Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, all employers must enlist one or more competent person(s) to assist with statutory duties regarding Health and Safety law in the workplace.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to train your staff or go on a recruitment search for a qualified health and safety worker. If you don’t already have someone in place, then it can be as easy as outsourcing the support through a health and safety consultancy, such as ourselves.
It’s cost-effective
Rather than funding an entire Health and Safety team, which means extra monthly salaries and the added cost of resources, you can save yourself some cash with a single, external health and safety consultant.
With our health and safety packages being tailored to meet your specific needs, you will only be paying for the services that you need. This may just be an annual site visit or risk assessment, or something more extensive such as new policies, monthly visits and access to our 24/7 health and safety advice line. They won’t take up any space in your workplace, and you have the option of paying for them on an annual basis, or as a pay-as-you-go service – whichever is more convenient for you.
Legal compliance is guaranteed
The biggest benefit for SMEs when outsourcing health and safety support is that they can rest assured their business is fully compliant and up to date with health and safety legislation.
Compliance is key for all businesses, and it is easy to get things wrong in the minefield of Health and Safety, but, with a qualified health and safety consultant on board, SMEs can feel at ease knowing that they are ticking all the boxes.
As a business owner, big or small, there are already a lot of plates to spin, and often, Health and Safety is unfamiliar territory and not particularly exciting for anyone who isn’t in that specific line of work.
A health and safety consultant can take the compliance concerns into their own hands and use their knowledge and years of experience to get it right, while handling any health and safety issues that come up.
They’re only there when you need them
Though a hugely important part of business, health and safety doesn’t necessarily require a full-time in-house employee.
Once the policy is in place and appropriate risk assessments have all been carried out, all that would be needed is an expert’s advice and support when a situation arises and regular reviews of all these policies and risk assessments.
Therefore, it seems that it would be a waste of time and resources to hire someone in-house when you can have the support of an experienced consultant who is on hand only as and when they are required.
Improved efficiency
The fact is, if you outsource an expert whose sole focus is health and safety, then not only will they always be on top of industry news and safety legislation changes relevant to your business, but they can also ensure that their work is of the highest quality.
They can dedicate the appropriate time needed to carry out and write up assessments or report accidents, for example, as it’s their only role within your business, and they won’t have other responsibilities to see to. This will ensure your health and safety compliance.
Ready-made expert
The process of recruitment can be tiresome, frustrating and costly, and even at the end of it, there is no guarantee that you have the right person on board.
Outsourcing health and safety support also means that they have access to a collective host of experts at the touch of a button. Although we, at Guardian Support, provide each of our clients with one dedicated consultant, we employ specialists across all sectors; therefore, we have consultants who are more experienced in the construction industry, others in food and some in manufacturing, for example.
This means that you will be receiving bespoke and specialist support that is not a one size fits all service.
The option of training members of your team to be health and safety experts can be quite an exhaustive task too. But a health and safety consultancy offers you fully qualified, trained and experienced advisors that take up very little of your time – all you need to do is pick the right one for your business, and they’ll handle all your health and safety needs for you.
If you’re interested in outsourcing Health and Safety support for your business, then look no further than Guardian Support. For more information or a free consultation, call us on 0845 2626 260 or email us.
