Can you really D.I.Y with health and safety

Can you use a DIY approach to health and safety – a question we are seldom asked but lets face it, a DIY approach to health and safety is often the default form of health and safety management.

The reality for many businesses is they can’t afford health and safety support so they do it themselves on a best endeavours basis. If this is you, we recommend you look at the following, and record it somewhere as you may need to demonstrate you have done it, especially if your DIY approach to health and safety comes under scrutiny.

DYI approach to identifying critical risks

Identify and document your critical risks. Maybe do this with your workers to get their views. The key question are
~ what is it that could be fatal or cause long term incapacity?
~ might this reasonably occur in the next 20 years?

We provide support and guidance for organisations wanting to manage their risks – either with our without our help.

DIY approach to implementing effective controls

You don’t want to have more than 5 – if you do, rank them. Ask what you do to manage or control these risks. The key questions are
~ what are the controls and how do we know they are in place and working?
~ where they are not working, how do we fix it?
~ what extra could we be doing to further reduce the risk?
~ what is the plan for improving our controls – who and when?

DIY approach to monitoring

Develop a checklist of things you need to check to ensure controls for critical risks are in fact in place and working. Add anything else you might want to check like fire extinguishers, chemical storage etc. Furthermore, a DIY approach to health and safety means being diligent with monitoring and documentation.

Assign someone to do the checks (no less than quarterly) and keep a record. And periodically get someone from outside to audit so you get another / independent view. Ultimately, your DIY approach to health and safety can be strengthened by outside input and regular reviews.

Contact us if you need some advice

Worksafe NZ also provide advice which may be useful to those working on a DIY basis