GSH Sponsors Essential Health & Safety Guidance for the FM Industry

Leading energy and facilities management company GSH has sponsored the production of a guidance document specifically aimed at Facilities Managers (FM's) to highlight its commitment to health and safety in the workplace.

The document is now available for download to all BIFM members and has been co-written by Robert Greenfield, Group Safety Health Environmental & Quality Director at GSH and Michael JW Morgan the Managing Director of Safety Action Services. They are also the Chair and Deputy of Chairman of the BIFM Health & Safety Special Interest Group and co authors of the book "Simply Safety."

This essential guidance for Facilities Managers provides a simple step- by-step approach to the management of health and safety of contractors which is not covered by the existing guidance on the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007. However the principles can also be applied by the FM for the selection and management of any contractor working on site. There is also a visual overview of the steps with a Process Flowchart at Appendix 1 on page 20.

It is timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and Section 3 of the Act which specifically requires employers to ensure the health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable, of not only their own employees but also that of others on site who are not employees. This refers to contractors working on site and it is therefore essential that FMs have this in their arsenal of knowledge.

Robert Greenfield explains: “The trend for outsourcing non core activities within a business to allow it to concentrate on its core activities makes good business sense but how does the FM ensure that contractors brought in to do the work will not take risks and potentially harm their own staff and others whilst they are present on site? In fact one of the highest risks that an organisation faces is as soon as a contractor walks onto their site and starts work. How do you know they have the experience and knowledge to carry out the work and how do you manage them whilst on site?

“Time and time again as safety practitioners we see preventable accidents that have been caused by poor selection and management of contractors and we hope that by applying the simple step by step approach demonstrated in this guidance, that the risks faced by FM's and their organisations will be greatly reduced. In short we want it to prevent accidents and keep people safe in the workplace he concludes.