Business mentor: Safety advice to keep small firms on track

Q. I run a small business and want to set up a health and safety system for my business. I'm just starting out so I have limited resources to spend. Is there any way I can achieve this at minimal cost?

A. Nicola Urquhart, injury prevention consultant at the ACC in Auckland, replies:

The Health and Safety in Employment Act (1992) requires all businesses, regardless of their size, to have a health and safety management system in place.

Setting one up within a small business doesn't need to be expensive. There are a number of free or low-cost resources available to help you and, despite popular opinion, it can be quite painless. To help get you started on the road to health and safety, ACC, in conjunction with the Occupational Safety and Health Service (OSH), have published "Improving Workplace Safety and Health for Small Business", a free resource designed specifically for small business owners.

This introduces you to the key elements of a basic health and safety system including hazard management, emergencies and incident investigation, training and supervision, and will walk you through the legislative requirements. The tool offers practical solutions for implementing your health and safety system and provides cost-effective and user-friendly ideas to keep stress to a minimum.

The beauty of the small business tool is that not only does it provide you with a framework to get started, it is also adaptable to the size and nature of your business.

In this way, you can expand or compact the system to suit you.

ACC also recognises that elements of health and safety management, in particular the management of hazards, are something common to all those within a specific industry. Therefore, for companies operating in the forestry, farming, construction, boat-building, road freight and education sectors, the small business tool has been adapted to fit the specific industry. If you work in these sectors, you will then have a head start in developing your hazard management plan.

The small business tool is not just for new businesses. Established businesses can also use it.

Many businesses establish a great health and safety system but forget to regularly review how it is working. This tool will help to ensure that your system is still achieving its aim.

For more free information, you can refer to the ACC website www.acc.co.nz/injury-prevention. This provides full information on setting up a health and safety system, and has useful links to health and safety services.

As part of its injury prevention service, ACC also provides free training sessions for small business owners looking to establish or improve their health and safety management system.

These regular sessions focus on the implementation of the small business tool, and provide a friendly and open forum to discuss how to implement this successfully.

Phone your local ACC injury prevention consultant (details listed below) to hear more.

With all the costs and demands facing small businesses in 2005, it is easy to lose sight of the purpose of implementing a health and safety management system; that is the safety of our employees.

However with little monetary investment, and commitment of time and energy, not only can you have control over the injuries impacting on your business, you can also gain an advantage in the market.

Larger companies are today requesting health and safety plans to be submitted as part of the tender process, while others are achieving recognition and industry kudos for efforts towards health and safety.

* For more information contact Nicola Urquhart, injury prevention consultant at ACC's Auckland branch, by telephone on (09) 915-8376 or email, or you can phone 0800 THINKSAFE (0800 844 657)

* Email us your small business questions. Answers are supplied by small business sector specialist Sarah Trotman.