Health and safety 'a phrase of derision'

Geoffrey Podger, the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) new chief executive told a gathering of health and safety practitioners that he was "concerned" about the quality of risk management, and that poor examples had led to health and safety becoming a "phrase of derision".

Speaking at the opening of Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) '06 conference in London yesterday, Mr Podger said: "Too much attention is spent by some on trivial risks and unnecessary paperwork and not enough on serious risks that cause real harm and suffering."

He added that the HSE was "determined" to play a leading role in "getting this balance corrected."

Mr Podger said it was clear that some organisations struggled with the concept of risk management, which in turn led to "risk aversion, generally powered by poor decision-making."

'Sensible' approach

A serious knock on effect was that the reputation of health and safety practice was suffering as a consequence, with cases of excessive risk aversion in particular being highlighted in the media.

"Sadly, 'health and safety' is a phrase of derision in far too many places in our society, which can lead people to turn their backs on problems and so potentially actually reduce safety and cause accidents," he said.

The HSE's chief executive said the safety watchdog would soon publish the findings of research into the scale and root causes of excessive risk aversion, which he hoped would help it to tackle the issue.

In the summer he would publish a set of principles of "sensible risk management", together with commitments by the HSE and its stakeholders to put these into action. the HSE would also review and change its key guidance on risk management and assessment.

Importantly, he added that the HSE's own staff would be "engaged" to ensure that they were "exemplars for sensible risk based decision-making."

Effective regulator

Geoffrey Podger went on to emphasise that the HSE's role as regulator was one that would enable business to "get on with things" while at the same time ensuring that organisations did not harm anyone or contravene laws.

"An effective regulator knows when to act and when to stay silent and is also constantly alert and flexible in its interpretation of the appropriate approach," he told delegates at the conference.

"Indeed the Regulator has a responsibility to challenge past and current practice - we cannot simply accept the status quo and live with it. It is very difficult to standardise exactly, approaches to risk in all areas.

"If we went down that route it would not be the most helpful thing to do in terms of helping our fellow man. We can achieve more with a pragmatic approach, addressing things as we find them and seeking to improve them in practical ways but also bearing in mind the risk and not overdoing it."