The Director’s Duty?

It’s been a busy few months here at Associated Training & Consultancy so my blog has taken a slightly back seat role. On looking back since my last post there has been many big events, not least the calling of a general election with many of the parties making commitments that will have an impact on health and safety legislation.

A key issue within the industry has been the long running debate over director duties, and this was brought to the fore in a 2009 report by Rita Donaghy (One Death Is Too Many).

This report called for statutory duties on directors, amongst many other recommendations. However, the Government has recently announced that it will not support this recommendation and will investigate the issue further. They commented that “the opinion [is] that there is sufficient legislation already in place, the full impact of which is still to be seen”.

The Government has not ruled out further action including:

• imposing a general duty on directors by way of an amendment to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (a Private Member’s Bill has already been laid to this effect);

• a self-standing regulation made under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, supported by an Approved Code of Practice; and

• reviewing the threshold in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 for prosecuting directors and other individuals for health and safety breaches.


So the question to be asked is does the current law encourage top level commitment to health and safety?

There are many who advocate for further duties on directors claiming there will be little further improvement until a new duty is imposed. I fall into the category of people who disagree with this view.

The Health and Safety at Work Act was founded on the principle of effective risk management; the principle of each business identifying and controlling its own risks and setting up its own system of health and safety management.

The way to engage directors with health and safety is not by enforcing further mandatory duties through regulation, but by involving them and by showing the benefits of effective health and safety. This is a view shared by business; a recent Institute of Directors survey found that 60% of businesses now see improvement of health and safety regulation as a key priority. In fact, I would suggest that further regulation would encourage directors to remove themselves from day to day issues rather than engage with them.

So what can be done to engage directors with the health and safety message?

• A key consideration should be training such as the IOSH Directing Safely or IOSH Safety for Senior Executives courses;

• Health and Safety should be considered as a Board level issue – particularly in issues of setting the policy statement (including aims and objectives) and reviewing performance.

• The health and safety performance of the company should be reported to the Board and could be included in company annual reports.

• A non-executive director could be appointed as a “scrutineer” of safety performance.

• Appraisals of senior managers can include an assessment of their contribution to health and safety performance.


The HSE recently published a joint guidance document with the Institute of Directors, and I would strongly suggest all directors receive a copy for their review. It can be downloaded free from the HSE website.

I understand the difficulty some of my health and safety colleagues in industry face – the sometimes difficult challenge of changing the culture of directors. I would simply say that is takes time to change a culture, but it is better to change it positively than try to force through change by regulation which will often be resisted.

If you would like to discuss this article or share with me some good practice please do get in touch.

Mathew Joyes is Head of Risk Management Services at Associated Training and Consultancy, a leading provider of health, safety, environmental and quality management solutions.

All of the entries in this blog provide general advice and should not be interpreted or used as specific health and safety guidance to your organisation – you must always consider your own circumstances and take appropriate action. If in doubt, contact us for professional and specific advice.

Original Article: http://www.associatedtraining.co.uk/blogs/health_and_safety/the_directors_duty.php

What next after the NEBOSH General Certificate?

After successfully gaining the NEBOSH General Certificate qualification, many delegates go on to take the NEBOSH Construction Certificate or the NEBOSH Fire Certificate.

The NGC1 unit (the first week of the NEBOSH General Certificate course) is a required unit for all of the NEBOSH Certificate courses, so those who have already achieved the General Certificate within the last 5 years will not need to repeat this when going on to do the Construction and Fire Certificates.

Whilst some training providers may only offer the full NEBOSH Construction Certificate and NEBOSH Fire Certificate courses, forcing you to have to sit through a week of learning the NGC1 unit that you've already done (and charging you for the privilege!), at Associated Training & Consultancy Ltd we offer 'Conversion Courses' for those who have already done the NEBOSH General Certificate and obtained the NGC1 unit, and just need to do the extra units necessary to obtain the NEBOSH Construction or Fire Certificates. Not only does this save you a week in terms of time, but the conversion courses are also hundreds of pounds cheaper than the 'Full Courses'.

Another option is to go down the NVQ route, with the NVQ Level 3 and NVQ Level 4 in Occupational Health and Safety Practice. At Associated Training & Consultancy Ltd we offer the City & Guilds accredited NVQs. These highly-respected health and safety qualifications are workplace project-based, avoiding the need to attend hours and hours of classroom teaching, and are a much more cost effective option than something like the NEBOSH Diploma which can cost around £7,000 from some training providers!

To find out more information including course outlines, scheduled dates and prices, simply use the links below to go to the relevant section of our main site:

•NEBOSH Construction Certificate - Full Course
•NEBOSH Construction Certificate - Conversion Course

•NEBOSH Fire Certificate - Full Course
•NEBOSH Fire Certificate - Conversion Course

•NVQ Level 3 in Occupational Health and Safety Practice
•NVQ Level 4 in Occupational Health and Safety Practice

All of the entries in this blog provide general advice and should not be interpreted or used as specific health and safety guidance to your organisation – you must always consider your own circumstances and take appropriate action. If in doubt, contact us for professional and specific advice.

Original Article: http://www.generalcertificate.co.uk/what_next.php