Small Businesses Balancing on Red Tape Tightrope

Potentially misleading advice from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) intended to help reduce the red tape burden on small businesses could put them at greater financial risk, according to UK health & safety experts, Croner.

Mary Broughton, FSB National Health and Safety Chairman, stated that small employers already take sufficient care of their staff and that the Government needs to employ a lighter regulatory touch if the UK is to compete with the rest of the World.

But Croner says that small firms are already balancing on a red tape ’tightrope’, often trying to keep legal compliance to a minimum and the, albeit well-intended FSB advice, could cause them to take safety far less seriously than they should.

The Government has already recognised the need to simplify red tape across private, public and voluntary sectors and as such has set up The Better Regulation Executive. Key initiatives of this include reducing the burden of forms by 25%, simplifying guidance on risk assessments, alternative penalties to reduce burdens and simplify existing legislation.

Nasar Farooq, safety technical manager at Croner, explains: We have some sympathy with time pressures on smaller businesses, but we are concerned that the FSB appears to be advocating that they do not need to manage safety properly since they look after their employees well enough already.

Looking after staff in terms of employment issues is important, but so is the safety and welfare of staff whilst at work. You may have the best employment policies in place, but what happens if an accident occurs at work that puts the employee out of action for weeks? This would undoubtedly place a huge strain on a small business, and defeats the purpose of the FSB advice, which is intended to boost small business competitiveness.

Hopefully initiatives by the government and the HSE will help to cut down red tape, but employers can also help themselves by managing health and safety as effectively as they would other business disciplines, such as production or quality. Having appropriate policies and procedures in place will help them deal with it much quicker and smarter.

At the end of the day Regulations are there to protect employers and employees and better health and safety should be seen as an investment rather than a cost. We’re advising small businesses to continue to comply with existing law, until such a time when simpler guidelines may be available.

Croner’s top tips for small business safety are:

- Get to know the health and safety law applicable to you - ignorance is no defence

- You must have competent advice to help you meet your health and safety duties. This can be workers from your business, external consultants/advisers or a combination of these

- If you employ anyone you must display a health and safety law poster

- If you employ five people or more you must have a written health and safety policy and risk assessments

- If you employ anyone, you need Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance and you must display the certificate in your workplace

- If you are an employer, self-employed or in control of work premises, by law you must report some work-related accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences.