Safety Guide

Is your organisation, vehicle, and home ethical and safe?

If there’s a question mark over the Health, Safety, Welfare, Sustainability, Safeguarding, and Equality provisions you provide for you, your family and staff, then unfortunately they are not.

In my work as a Consultant Coach, Musicians Union Health & Safety Rep and Researcher I'm required to raise awareness about the importance of committing to the Social, Environmental as well as Economic development of our projects, organisations, practices and companies.

Please find some research below that assists with achieving this:

-Eradicating discrimination - and reminding our team, family, friends to do likewise, as it's illegal; also in recruitment. nb Just incase of interest, it's reported that discrimination might be a symptom of chemical imbalance... Gabriel Cousens has done some groundbreaking research about this. Also, Michael A. Schmidt PhD in his book Brain Building Nutrition. Research suggests that maintaining a diet that is organic, biodynamic, free range, fair trade, and that uses very little packaging is the quickest way to recover from this and other deviant communication and behaviour.

-Improve the carbon footprint of your company, self and office/s via educating self and your team. Ensure you have an Environmental Policy, and are aware of the Waste Regulations 2011 [England and Wales], which was introduced on 29th March 2011 and came into force on 28th September 2011.

-Consider having 360% appraisals that assist with eradicating bullying, abuse, neglect, harrassment, and other workplace deviance. This can be very expensive indeed as valuable members of stressful teams either leave or plan to asap.

-Ensure you're getting the most out of your team such as the following: 1) Communication - do all you can to improve the dynamics and communication between members of your team - by educating them about the legislation they risk flouting 2) Decisiveness 3) Focus - Are your targets being met? 4) Transparency and Honesty 5) Health, Safety and Welfare 6) Feedback 7) Accuracy and Errors 8) Incentives - by awarding and paying your employees and team a decent wage, bonus and % of the profits the team generated 9) Continued Professional Development [CPD] - encourage continued professional and personal development and effective team-building initiatives.

Meanwhile, please also note that setting up a Safety Committee as recommended by the Health & Safety Executive enables that the above issues are discussed and included at the planning, development and management stages.

What else can we do?

1) Commit to ‘doing the best we can’, by being a better person each day. This ensures we avoid inflicting unnecessary trauma and pain on both self and others. For instance, one of the best gifts we can give family and friends is a First Aid kit and vouchers to receive First Aid and Health, Safety, Welfare and Equality Training…

As mentioned above, Safety Committees are recommended by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for organisations and are made up of equal numbers of Management, Health and Safety Reps or Officers. This model also works with the family too!

A committee provides a platform for all members of the team/family to express any concerns well in advance of discussions breaking down. It’s always a shame when a member of the team or family feel that they have to leave home or their job, due to bullying, exploitation, fear of danger or a bad reference.

A Safety Committee reminds all members of the team and family about their duty to ensure that there’s equality and transparency. Health, Safety, Welfare and Equality is supported by many human rights organisations worldwide.

Issues that can be discussed at safety committee meetings include: unguarded machines; bad lighting; obstructions; fire risks; poor welfare facilities; noise; stress; dusts, substances, bacteria; passive smoking; fatigue, long hours, shift work and night work; vibration; the way work is organised; sexual and racial harassment; bullying; insensitive communication; discrimination (ageism, towards children, etc. etc.); staffing levels; gender issues (for example, the concentration of women workers in particular jobs and facing particular hazards); lone working; disability and HIV/AIDS.

2) For those who are fortunate enough to be able to fund, sponsor and provide grants to others, please ensure that those you support have adequate Health, Safety, Welfare and Equality provisions, or simply ‘suspend’ supporting the projects, companies and organisations who don’t until these areas are improved. This ensures you are hopefully always part of the solution rather than the problem!!

3) Also...

- Encourage companies and the political party you support to improve their sustainability alongside their Health, Safety and Welfare. I’ve found that they really appreciate feedback and suggestions!
- Prioritise Health, Safety, Welfare (including Equality) – and include it as part of your Spiritual Development.
- Ensure regular risk assessments are conducted at home, work and elsewhere.  and share your knowledge!
- Contact us if you have any suggestions that might help improve things!! Also, if you need a link to professional consultants, health practitioners and companies with an expertise in this area (noting that there are some links on the ‘Health and Safety Support’ page of 'The Love Fund' section of this website).

When we fail to abide by Health, Safety and Equality legislation then unfortunately, albeit at times unknowingly - all we’re doing is contributing to the suffering of others alongside a drain on the world’s economy. We also run the risk of being sued for negligence.

At present far too many are not abiding by the Health, Safety and Welfare legislation and regulations; please see ‘STATISTICS’ page on 'The Love Fund' section of this website. It’s been suggested that companies and projects who comply with the law and encourage diversity should pay less TAX...

Not sure this will ever be implemented, but you never know!! We should not therefore miss out on improving our carbon and ethical footprint - for reasons mentioned above; also just incase this suggestion ever happens! For instance, I no longer shop at or work with organisations who choose to drag their feet re. legislation... Also, regarding my own work... in relation to the music programmes I design... I try to be 'much' more inclusive and include music and songs from all over the world rather than just mainly Western music.

Is there more we can do therefore?

A good place to begin is to ask ourselves whether we're 'Doing the best we can' each day.... as it’s in everyone’s interest when we do...

Doing the best we can ensures and guarantees a brighter future for us all!

All best wishes,

Flora