It seems a strange question maybe but one that many people seem to think applies to others and not in their workplace.Take for example how many people you have seen in the last week who were using their mobile phones whilst driving; I bet it’s a fair few. When we deliver training we often discuss why so many people continue to make/take calls, or worse text, when they know using the phone is illegal and distracting.The answer generally comes back that either they don`t think they will be caught, and they don`t think bad things will happen to them. However, the reality is that many thousands die on U.K. roads every year and a fair few will be down to accidents caused by a lack of attention (often with phones involved).So what does this have to do with the workplace you might ask; the answer is where people are prepared to ignore safety rules and allow distractions to become part of the working environment then the chance of something going wrong will increase dramatically.

We find some new clients and their workforce believe developing a positive approach to health and safety is just too much hard work; however we soon prove this does not have to be the case. Get it right and the results will provide many benefits to the client, and most importantly, health and safety will help prevent bad things happening.

It’s a common feature that workers will challenge, “why do we need all this health & safety stuff as we haven`t had a bad accident yet?” They need to understand this can often have been down to good fortune. We get them thinking about what has gone wrong and could the result have been worse on a different day (the answer is invariably yes).

However, its not all just down to worker attitude. If the management don`t make sufficient effort to identify and control workplace risks then it’s likely sooner rather than later that bad things will occur.

This year alone we have seen a number of new clients who were allowing work on machinery without proper controls in place; yet we regularly see machinery related prosecutions from the HSE (after bad things have happened).

Don`t let this be your business or your workforce. Take no action and one day someone could be badly hurt or worse. Accidents can happen to anyone of us and none of us can claim otherwise. Avoid the distractions. Make sure people understand the importance of working safely.