Safety Signs News

HSE advises on unnecessary safety measures

28th February 2014 | Health and Safety Signs

Posted by Jason Nicholls

There are times when the safety measures firms must abide by can seem confusing. Often, they may even seem completely unnecessary. If they do, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises that you check up on them, as they could be fictional.

Health and safety myths waste the time and money of businesses. While it is definitely advised to provide the correct equipment for employees, and display safety signs to warn of hazards that people might not see, it is not necessary to provide written guidelines for walking up stairs as one firm did.

Another company thought it necessary to perform a risk assessment for using a tape measure. While it is usually better to be safe than sorry, sometimes companies go too far to abide by fictional health and safety rules.

HSE’s small business lead Kate Haire said: “Health and safety is all about taking reasonable steps to manage serious risks of ill-health and injury in the workplace. If something sounds completely unreasonable, more often than not it will be totally unnecessary too."

As a result, the HSE has produced the 'Health and Safety ABC', a resource for businesses to check up on what correct safety practices should be carried out. ADNFCR-2754-ID-801698890-ADNFCR