RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

March 16, 2001
TOUGHER HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE NEEDED FOR DIRECTORS

Recommendations in a draft code laying down directors’ responsibilities for health and safety do not go far enough, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said today.

Roger Bibbings, RoSPA Occupational Safety Adviser, said that unless proposals in the Health and Safety Commission consultation document were more far reaching, "accidents waiting to happen" would not be prevented.

"The code outlining directors’ responsibilities in the prevention of accidents and ill health must be much stronger than is currently being suggested," he said. "It has to be clear that the prime duty of directors is to ensure they have the policies, people and procedures in place to manage risk effectively." RoSPA launched its DASH - Director Action on Safety and Health - campaign two years ago. The consultation document considers many of the issues covered by that initiative - which seeks to ensure that board directors address the improvement of health and safety performance as a key business objective.

Roger Bibbings said: "The disaster enquiries of the 1980s and 1990s showed that organisations without top-level safety leadership were accidents waiting to happen, and there will be more avoidable tragedies unless directors insist that health and safety issues are kept at the top of the corporate agenda.

"We support the HSC proposal for a named health and safety director on all boards. But it must be made clear that their role is to champion change, and not to be made scapegoats if things go wrong."

He said the draft code, while welcome, was too "vague" and did not give a clear indication of the minimum levels of competence expected of directors.

It also needed to require boards to develop corporate health and safety strategies with clear priorities, targets and timescales in consultation with union representatives. Directors had to lead by example and become more involved with safety inspections and accident investigations.

Copies of the Society’s response to the HSC draft code are available from RoSPA. RoSPA is about to publish best practice guidance on measuring and reporting on corporate health and safety performance.