Simplicity key to keeping small businesses safe
February 1st 2008 Small businesses need access
to simple how to guides on
health and safety to help
dispel the perception that
health and safety is
burdensome, says Europe's
largest health and safety
professional body.
The Institution of
Occupational Safety and
Health (IOSH) has said, in
its response to the Better
Regulation Executive's (BRE)
'Improving outcomes from
health and safety'
consultation, that good
health and safety practices
need to be embedded in the
education system.
"Unfortunately, it's true
that some small firms see
health and safety as a drain
on their time and resources,
mainly because they
mistakenly think it's all about
paperwork and stopping them
doing things," comments
IOSH president Ray Hurst.
"To help remedy this, we
believe there should be easy
access to simple 'how to'
guidance and competent
advice on health and safety.
"This guidance needs to be
provided free of charge, and
we're calling on the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE)
to scrap the charges they
have on some of their
publications to encourage
more small firms to download
and use them. IOSH also
provides a variety of free
information and user-friendly
'tools' for small firms, which
can be downloaded from its
website." More articles from IOSH: | 
