What's new?

RoSPA Support for Industry Action on Red Tape

Going Public On Performance: Telling it how it is

RoSPA Press Release
RoSPA SUPPORT FOR INDUSTRY ACTION ON RED TAPE

May 20 , 2009

A move to cut health and safety bureaucracy in the construction industry has been welcomed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

The Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) Competence Forum, launched today, aims to encourage mutual recognition between the pre-qualification schemes used by contractors to demonstrate their health and safety competence.

It is an example of the type of practical action recommended by RoSPA’s National Occupational Safety and Health Committee to reduce the burden of red tape on small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) while also making the essential requirements of health and safety management clearer.

Last year, the committee’s ongoing inquiry into the health and safety help available to small firms found that SMEs were facing problems when tendering for contracts. This was because their prospective clients used a wide range of pre-qualification schemes to assess their approach to the prevention of accidents and ill-health.

A lack of mutual recognition between the schemes meant that firms were facing unnecessary and time-consuming form filling as they sought to meet the requirements of each one.

In response to the finding, clients and other third parties were encouraged to accept the results of any competent assessment based on a set of agreed core criteria.

The new SSIP Forum has been founded by a number of the pre-qualification schemes operating within the construction industry.

Roger Bibbings, RoSPA occupational safety adviser, said: “RoSPA warmly welcomes the launch of the SSIP Forum and is pleased that it is using agreed core criteria to assess the health and safety management capability of contractors.

“The scheme marks an important step forward in the drive to get small businesses to prove that they are taking health and safety seriously.

“In addition to helping both contractors and clients, RoSPA hopes that this initiative will be of value to other stakeholders including insurers, investors, enforcing authorities, trades unions and industry associations.

“As the next stage in its small firms inquiry, RoSPA’s National Occupational Safety and Health Committee will be reviewing a range of industry-specific campaigns to see what lessons can be learned and made available to other sectors.”

See www.rospa.com/occupationalsafety/sme for more information about the inquiry being conducted by RoSPA’s National Occupational Safety and Health Committee.

Press Enquiries: Jo Stagg
Telephone: 0121 248 2134
Out-of-hours: 07785 540 349

RoSPA Press Release
Going Public On Performance: Telling it how it is

An online tool to help organisations showcase their commitment to health and safety has undergone a major overhaul.

RoSPA’s Going Public on Performance website was relaunched at the RoSPA Scotland Safety and Health at Work Congress.

GoPOP, which was originally developed in 2003, enables both private and public organisations to demonstrate their improving occupational safety and health (OS&H) performance.

RoSPA believes that the open and transparent reporting of performance and targets will promote the sharing of good practice, leading to higher standards of health and safety across employment sectors. Indeed, the Society has adopted the approach for its own corporate reporting (see www.rospa.com/review2008/) to drive the development of its internal health and safety system.

GoPOP is intended to support the Health and Safety Commission’s (HSC) challenge to organisations to report on OS&H performance in their annual reports. Using the internet as a means of communicating this information has the benefit of making it easily accessible to a worldwide audience.

The new-look website includes links to 60 organisations, including the winners of prestigious RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards, which publish high-quality information on OS&H on their websites, and easy-to-use guidance on how to report performance.

Reporting the involvement of directors in health and safety is particularly encouraged, and important at a time when the HSC is developing new guidance for directors on OS&H.

Roger Bibbings, RoSPA Occupational Safety Adviser, said: “We hope the new GoPOP website will capture the imagination of those involved in health and safety, providing them with a powerful tool to use in their continuing efforts to reduce the number of work-related injuries and deaths each year.

"The site could help employers gain a competitive advantage because they will be able to show their suppliers and clients how well they are managing OS&H. They will also be able to show their insurer and potential investors that they approach OS&H in an open and measured way.

RoSPA encourages organisations to report openly their progress in the sphere of occupational safety and health. Doing so not only encourages the reporting organisation to keep improving its standards, but also sets a benchmark against which other organisations can measure their performance."