Businesses warned on breaching H&S laws.

Byline: Karen Dent

ASMALL health and safety business is warning that poor standards and a lack of awareness about safety issues are still rife across many industry sectors.

North Shields firm Health and Safety Compliance, which employs five consultants, was set up by Richard Wade who served for 14 years in the Royal Army Medical Corps.

He is now working with clients across the UK and Europe, in businesses including telecommunications, the satellite industry, transport and warehousing, as well as restaurants and care homes.

Mr Wade says he is shocked that 300 people a year are still dying in accidents at work, while there are 290,000 injuries annually.

And he is also surprised that so many businesses do not know the full catastrophic effects that failing to comply with legal standards can have. He said: "A court can levy heavy fines and send you to prison. Time and time again I give presentations to company directors and they are shocked to discover that they are liable to prosecution due to accidents at work.

"The damage to your company's brand can be immense - it can literally put you out of business. A judge can order an organisation to publicly announce, on all their corporate stationery, on their website, that they have failed H&S regulations - and make you pay for it. Every month, senior managers go to prison because one of their workforce has suffered injury or been killed."

Health and Safety regulations affect every business, big or small, and around 200 million working days are lost annually in the UK because of work-related accidents.

"I've presented to major companies that declare their commitment to their people and yet are not compliant with H&S regulations," he said.

"One of the most shocking cases I've ever come across was where a care home was holding a fire safety course. The guy, a qualified H&S consultant, was giving a presentation to staff about fire drills.

"He told them, 'Look, according to the rules we're not supposed to put people in the lifts during a fire but hell, just stick them in'.

"What this man didn't know was that his boss was sitting at the back of the room. His boss stood up, said, 'Stop right there. Now clear up your things and get out. You're sacked' - but what if the man's boss had not been there?"