Implementing Health and Safety

Hi,

After receiving a large amount of emails asking for practical advice on how to implement Health & Safety in your workplace we have just posted 7 tips on how Health & Safety should be approached in your business, you can find this at http://www.i-resources.co.uk/news/NewsStory.asp?ID=305

Seven Tips for implementing effective Health & Safety into your business. Remember you can access for over 50 health and safety templates completely free by registering at our website.

James

The funniest complaint letter ever?

I have just had this emailed to me and I thought it was hilarious; the amount of time that this person has spent on constructing the letter is quite incredible. Have a look for yourself at http://uk.news.yahoo.com/blog/editors_corner/article/11975/

James

So we are officially in a recession!

So it has finally been made official that we are in a recession and have been for the last six months, I am sure to most of you this news is old and now that it has been made official does not really help anyone. So what is really happening with our banks and the economy as a whole? I have recently been recommended a blog and I have found it very interesting; Pestons Picks is the blog from the BBC business editor Robert Peston and you can find this blog from the home page of the BBC website and I have to say that it is one of the most informative out there in relation to our current economic climate and well worth a visit.

Jon

Government Funded Training

With the economy in its current delicate state, it is important to ensure that your employees are still being developed and that your company offers a higher standard of service than your competitors, this can be achieved by training. To date the government have not announced a reduction in funding for training, in fact it has been quite the opposite and additional monies have been pledged for the future. Eligibility requirements for funding change on a frequent basis and you should check on a regular basis, for an example of current eligibility requirements for government funded training click here.

Jon

Sexual Harassment and your employees

An article we have recently published on our website looks at third party harassment and employer's liability, I found this particularly interesting and wonder how many employers are actually aware of their responsibilities with relation to the amendments made to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 in April and the financial implications of non compliance. For a brief overview of the responsibilities an employer has in relation to these amendments, please follow this link.

James

Health and Safety on the Roads

With the weather reaching sub zero temperatures it is important that you as an employer take the necessary precautions to ensure that safety of your employees, especially lone workers and jobs where frequent travel is involved. I am not suggesting that as an employer you are responsible for the actions of your employee on the road, but if appointments are made for the employee then it would be wise to allow additional time for travel or if appointments are made by the individual then to advise them on taking the necessary precautions.

I appreciate that this may seem like a lot of common sense but having said that so much of Health & Safety is just that but sometimes it is all too easy for us to forget and put ourselves at unnecessary risk.

Kelly

Happy New Year?

So here we are 2009 and if you believe everything you read, this is not going to be a good year, but lets face it no one really knows and experts are quite often wrong, lets just wait and see.

Today Woolworth's shut the majority of its stores although administrators have extended this deadline for certain stores in order to reduce stock levels further.

So is the end of Woolworth's? A spokesman from the administrators has said that nothing is being ruled out and a possible management buyout for some of the stores is still very much a possibility. It has also been reported that employees from these stores have come out and said that they would be willing to work for free until the new company is on its feet in order to save their jobs.

This is an interesting potential outcome, over the last 6 months I have to a number of small businesses where they have discussed a reduction in turnover due to the credit crunch and that the subject of redundancies has been mentioned. However several of the companies discussed this with their team and they offered to voluntarily reduce their hours (and in some cases work for free) in order to prevent redundancies from occurring. This is normally agreed over a set period of time and reviewed regularly.

It is important for effective communication to take place with your employees as redundancies can often be an expensive route and you might be surprised at what solutions your employees come up with.

Jon