Managing Health and Safety in a Small Business

SECTION A

The Context for Your Business

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Aim of the Book

During the first two decades of the 21st century, we have continued to see big changes in the way firms operate, and in the structure of business units as globalization becomes more prominent. Critically, the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on all businesses, large and small, and whatever sector they operate in, with long-term recovery still unclear. At the time of writing, at least a third of small businesses were not operational due to COVID-19, although many are starting to find new ways to develop their business. It is worth noting that micro and small firms have been able to act quickly to develop a more robust online presence, and this is likely to continue as a long-term approach.

If nothing else, the pandemic led small and micro firms to look closely at how they operate, the way staff members work, and wider implications of supply chain operations. While OH&S requirements have been in place for many years, it is clear that health and well-being of workers is recognized as a much more significant element in the workplace— wherever that might be.

Small Firms Are Crucial to Every Economy Worldwide

In the United States, small business statistics (U.S. Census Bureau) show that the majority of businesses employ fewer than 500 workers, but these small businesses employ just under half the country’s workforce. While there are around 30.7 million small businesses (using their definition of up to 500 employees), 98.2 percent employ fewer than 100 and 89 percent of all businesses in the United States employ fewer than 20 people (2020 oberlo.com).

In practice, we know that the most common form of enterprise is the micro firm with up to nine employees, so this is an important factor when we are looking at keeping the workforce safe and healthy. But we also have to take into account the number of self-employed individuals with no other workers (22 million in 2017), just over half of them homebased (U.S. 2017), who must also comply with the national and regional health and safety regulations. Not an easy task when the United States has a system that gives each state freedom to make their own decisions about how the regulations are implemented or enforced.

So, while the main basis for regulations is decided nationally by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), some states may have more stringent rules for some industry sectors. If you are based in the United States, you will need to check what applies to your industry and if you need to expand the list of hazards, controls, or rules you have to meet as you work through this book.

In Canada, you may find differences in the way the territories interpret the regulations, although the fundamental need to identify hazards, controls, and carry out risk assessments applies everywhere. You are particularly required to keep a copy of the Act and the Regulations for reference, even if it is only you employed in the business. There is also reference to job hazard analysis (JHAs) if you are based in Canada, so this matches the sections on identifying hazards as you work through the book.

Small businesses are considered to be those that employ fewer than 20 workers, but note that even if you are the tiniest business with no other workers, you still have to comply with the OH&S legislation. The Workers Safety and Compensation Committee (WSCC) administers and enforces the regulations, although they do acknowledge that as a small business you have a lot of demands on your time (WSCC guidance for small businesses).

In Australia, a small business is one that employs 15 workers or less. There have been some changes/amendments to health and safety regulations since 2017. So again, you will need to check if there are any specific things that you must take into account when doing your risk assessments. There are some interesting guidelines on ensuring safety and health for remote (home) working employees and when you arrange a work function.

Since 2000, the total number of small businesses in the UK has grown to around 5.9 million in 2019 (FSB 2020), the majority being sole traders with no workers employed (59 percent) or partnerships without other workers (7 percent). Around a fifth of these were in construction, and 14 percent in wholesale/retail.

In addition, firms in the UK were dealing with fundamental changes resulting from the final withdrawal from the European Union at the beginning of 2021. This represents definitive changes for small businesses wherever they are in the world. We have seen this phenomenal change accompanied by the rapid growth in the use of telecommunications, the Internet, part-time and temporary employment contracts, and the use of home working throughout the world.

As even more trading opportunities emerge, the issue of safeguarding workers and the business as a whole has shifted. No longer tied to the EU regulatory framework suggests some freedom, yet the underpinning need to assess and manage risks remains. So, why this book now?

Whether a business wants to trade with partners inside or outside the European Union, or globally, it is time to ensure there is a system in place to safeguard the business going forward.

The Five Strands of Risk

Figure 1.1 identifies some of the pressures on business, so we can see why health and safety risk management is often sidelined in smaller organizations. These external factors are a potential risk for organization of any size as they are, primarily, outside your control and not always easy to anticipate—as we have seen with the global pandemic. While the focus of this book is on internal risks, it is also useful to be aware that external factors might need to be considered in more detail.

The following Five Strands list is a useful reminder of the main risk areas for all businesses:

A. Premises —where the firm is located, type of premises available for use, storage and warehouse facilities, distribution routes, access for customers, insurance cover, information systems, property and vehicle security, data security, home working.

Figure 1.1 Internal and external pressures on business

B. Product or service —industry sector, features of product or service offered, production processes, waste and scrap disposal, skills, technology, new materials, and environmental impact.

C. People —the workers in the organization, skills, training needs, motivation and commitment, targets set, incentive packages available, employment contracts. Record keeping and reporting systems, monitoring and review, use of standards. Emergency procedures, protection of workers and others who come into direct contact with customers.

D. Pricing —access to supplies, stock control, payment terms, cost, life cycle and fashion trends, quality, sales and marketing approaches, trading agreements and tariffs.

E. Planning —access to relevant data, management skills, short and long-term planning, investment options. The range of policies to support the strategic plans of the business.

No one can eliminate all the risks in all the areas—it is a risky business setting up, operating, and developing a successful operation. Each one of these elements has its own type of risks, always interacting with each other.

The Australian health and safety system notes that, in their experience, most hazards come from:

•The physical work environment, such as a loud workplace

•The equipment, materials, and substances you use, such as chemicals

•The work tasks and how they are done, such as lifting heavy boxes

If you manage them carefully, they can be reduced or controlled so that you can spread the risk. In any event, whatever actions you take, you still want to retain the excitement and challenge of running a successful business while protecting everyone from potential harm.

You can do this!

An evaluation of the business needs honesty and motivation, especially as you want to produce a detailed analysis of the potential risks in all of the five areas. Not an easy task, but a necessary one to get a true picture of how all the elements fit together—much better than the sticking plaster approach to dealing with risks as and when they appear. At least this stage only needs to be done once. From then on, it will need to be monitored every now and then, and if something in the business suddenly changes.

How Does It Work?

There are checklists throughout the guide, mainly structured around asking questions and identifying areas where you might need to take further action. You will already have most of this information, either as internal records, official documents, procedures and training manuals, leaflets, or brochures. There is no specific format or structure for the material you produce as it is personal to your business.

Managing Health and Safety in a Small Business is primarily a checklist approach aimed at the nonspecialist. As we know, most small firms do not have access to in-house expertise in all these areas. The checklists/charts are available to download to make it easier to record findings. The last section on case studies (Section F) gives examples of typical hazards and risks you may find in your industry sector.

What Will I Have at the End?

If you work through the guide, you will have some form of record that contains information about how your business operates. This will include:

•The type and structure of the business

•The products you make or service you provide

•How the premises are laid out and activities are arranged in the business

•Who and where people are at any given time

In addition, you can show how well you are controlling risks in the workplace by:

•Identifying health, safety, and fire hazards in each area of the business

•Identifying people likely to be injured or harmed by these hazards, plus any individuals or groups of people that might be particularly vulnerable

•Assessing potential risks to workers and others who could be on the site at any time

•Reviewing existing controls that are in place to reduce risks and deciding extra control measures that might be necessary

Finally, you will be able to demonstrate to others that you are taking these risks to health and safety seriously by:

•Deciding future targets or objectives for you and the business

•Considering the order of priority for action

•Producing a plan to take them forward

Elements from each of the Five Strands are included to find possible risk factors and what controls (if any) are already in place. There are charts and diagrams to help you look as widely as possible, and questions to remind you to check where possible risks might be. Once we have lists of potential hazards and risks for your individual business, it will be easier to think of what you might do to reduce them.

The following risks are likely to be found in at least some areas, so just keep them in mind as you take a closer look at your business.

•Employment risks —related to employing workers, need for skills, shortages, employment protection

•Legislation —likely to be discrimination law, health, safety and fire protection, environmental protection, permits, procedures, record keeping

•Security —to safeguard people, premises, data and copyright protection, theft, violence to staff and others

•Competition —pricing strategies, location, benchmarking and standards, public perceptions, penalties

This is usually the easy bit. After all, you are running your business, so will already be aware of many of these risks even if you haven’t thought of them in this way before. Later we will look at allocating some sort of rating against each one, such as:

•Extent of harm or damage possible if something goes wrong

•How likely is it that this might happen?

•Who could be affected?

Then consider:

•How you can control/limit the harm or damage

•Prioritize actions

•Draw up a workable Policy statement for the business

Clearly a wholly theoretical approach is of limited value when we know that businesses do not operate in such a nice, neat way!

However, it is vital that potential risks to the business should be considered at all levels of the firm, so an approach that you can use consistently throughout is a valuable tool for management. Transparency is the key word, wherever your business operates and whatever local legislation applies, especially where there are differences between states or provinces, so being able to produce evidence of your actions to safeguard