Do Directors Have Time for Health & Safety Training?

We are often asked why Directors and Senior Managers need health and safety training. Often they say “I don’t work machines. I don’t drive forklift trucks; so why do I need this training?” But that misses the point.

Why do people at the top of their organisations need health and safety training when they are already managing or directing? Many organisations will say that their Board members can’t possibly spend the day on health and safety training. Why not? Health and safety is something that actually puts their company at risk, puts them at risk personally and has the ability to destroy their organisation. This is why knowing how to manage health and safety is so important for Directors.

Anyone over the age of 16 can be a Director of a UK company – something that many people do not realise. However there is no inherent requirement for training or necessarily experience.

Directors of large organisations are usually appointed for their knowledge and experience. But it’s quite often in the business they’re working in, or the financial area that they’re controlling. They don’t necessarily understand the liabilities they have, the decisions they need to take or how to make decisions about health and safety matters. Often Directors don’t understand the implications of making health and safety decisions, which can actually prevent disasters from happening.

Too often the training budget is trimmed, or the maintenance program is scaled back, resulting in a nasty incident which can linked back to the decisions of one Director. Director level training in health and safety is about getting it right for the organisation, while also protecting all the Directors from liability.

At Quadriga we regularly run the IOSH Safety for Executives and Directors training. To see the next available dates, click here. To speak to us about arranging suitable training for your organisation, please call us on 0118 929 9920 or click here to email us.

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