TABLE OF CONTENTS When you have read this chapter and carried out the activities, you will be able to:
Understand the importance to the organisation of a sound and pro-active approach to health, safety and welfare.
State the main legislative interventions and their principal components.
Design a health and safety policy.
Draft a proposal for a risk assessment exercise.
Identify the elements of an effective employee assistance programme.
Appreciate the effect of stress on employees and how it can be alleviated.
In December 1994, Peter Kite was jailed for 3 years. He owned a small outdoor activity company and was found guilty of manslaughter as a result of the death of four teenagers under his control on a canoe outing off the Dorset coast (Whitfield, 1995). Two years later, Roy Hill, a demolition worker, served 3 months in prison for grossly violating asbestos regulations. Despite having instructions on safety requirements, he ignored all of them and took no precautions to prevent asbestos dust escaping from old roofing sheets and pipe lagging when demolishing a building in Bristol ( People Management, 1996).
These were the first two cases where guilty parties in health and safety cases served prison sentences, the first as an employer, the second as an employee. Many more were to follow. For example, in 2004, Peter Pell, an industrial cleaning contractor, was sent to prison for manslaughter following the death of his employee who was driving a loading machine. Pell had removed the cage to allow the machine...
