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How accountants can help improve health and safety in the workplace

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16th Mar 2009
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Occupational safety expert Malcolm Tullett explains why accountants need to be aware of health and safety legislation and offers tips on how to stay safe on a budget.

It’s tough enough to make a profit these days, without the ongoing costs of compliance. As an accountant, your clients’ profit and loss accounts probably show health and safety compliance as a cost rather than a saving, but why should any organisation invest their hard won profits in a lot of legal red tape?

Organisations usually see health and safety as a necessary evil and one that will cost them money to stay on the right side of the law. To be honest, most safety advisers would uphold the view that health and safety is in fact good for the business and is there to protect people within the business, including staff, visitors, suppliers or customers.

Here are five ways your clients can benefit from health and safety so that they deliver real value to the bottom line.

  1. An eye on quality processes
    It’s important to keep a check on efficiency and effectiveness in your business. Using an integrated management system that aligns the various legal requirements to reduce paperwork, cut down on bureaucracy and streamline the business processes will help.

    This means that the staff who previously had to spend their time inputting the same information in several different places will now be free to engage in more productive work.

    With many companies looking to cut costs in the current financial climate, this is great news, as it means fewer people are needed to deliver the same result. Creating a safer and more efficient business will impact on the bottom line and increase profits.

  2. Taking action to reduce costs
    As an adviser to your clients it’s important that you know some of the requirements to ensure they don’t become victims. Even sole proprietors must have a health and safety policy (and know what it is), even if it’s not written down. The minute the employee count gets to five, a written policy is essential.

    If your clients occupy a building there will be issues regarding the facilities management of those premises. The planning, building control, licensing, and environmental authorities will all have their say. The architect will (for the most part) simply comply with their instructions. However, these agencies tend to have a ‘one size fits all’ approach and they’re not always right. You may get the occasional client who is issued with an enforcement or prohibition notice, but it’s not uncommon for enforcement agencies to issue unenforceable notices.

    One of my clients was about to install an expensive emergency lighting system in response to an enforcement notice. When we reviewed his situation it simply wasn’t required and we explained that to the enforcing authority. After a second look at the case they changed the notice.
    Getting this wrong can cost thousands of pounds, not least in fines if compliance isn’t delivered properly. Advise your clients to take action as soon as any notice is issued to them, no matter how long they appear to have to make changes.

    It’s also a good idea to advise your clients to seek alternative opinions, as the ‘one size fits all’ approach can prove costly and there are often other ways to achieve the same end goal.

  3. Go green
    Get your clients to think green – not money (although it has an impact) – and take a good look at the environmental issues that impact on their business. There are usually many things that can be done to make the organisation more environmentally friendly.

    A good environmental management system can make substantial savings in energy bills, consumable items and, in some instances, can even earn money back for the business.
    Training the staff to turn off lights, work stations and other appliances can make a significant saving. Recycling waste can also be a cost saving. Consumables can be cut by using low energy, long use products.

    It’s also worth looking at suppliers and seeing if there are lower cost suppliers of a more environmentally friendly solution. Being environmentally aware can make a real impact on the balance sheet.

  4. Upgrade standards for profit
    With Business Link and other government bodies advising suppliers to focus on the public sector (in the face of a struggling private sector), organisations have to meet the minimum requirements in order to qualify. One of the biggest hoops that organisations have to jump through is meeting a rigorous health and safety checklist.

    These requirements are likely to be much more than the business would need ordinarily. For instance, the requirements for anyone bidding for contracts related to the 2012 Olympics are just about as tough as it gets. If all the boxes are ticked, the opportunities expand and your clients will benefit from lucrative contracts that are still available from public sector.

    As an added benefit, it will make them much more attractive to private sector clients too. As belts are tightened even the private sector is much more conscious of the need to ensure that suppliers deliver good quality, reliable goods and services and so their demands are increasing.

  5. Business improvement to create profit
    Look at health and safety from a business improvement point of view. With the right approach, the savings are substantial. However, it goes much further than that; with an integrated business improvement and health and safety process the potential for much higher profits from existing activities is considerable.

    By integrating business improvement processes such as SixSigma and Lean into the health and safety systems you’ll find safety activities protect the people, but also improve the rate at which they are able to operate, cut down waste, streamline processes and allocate people in a much more productive way. The impact on the bottom line can be as much as ten times the investment.

    This model is known as PROPA (profit through positive action) and has already won an award. We’re so confident that it will make a real difference that we guarantee it will cover its own cost as a minimum, so it’s not a cost to the business.

You might be wondering what has this got to do with accounting, other than improving the health of your client’s bottom line? Good advice is invaluable and although, when times are tough, people look for lower cost options – they won’t sacrifice a really good relationship, with profitable advice for an unknown quantity.

The statistics say that, behind doctors, accountants are the most trusted professional advisors. Clients will rely on you and, if they are fined or penalised as a result of non compliance, they will be asking why you had not advised them what to do. Accountants and other professional advisors can be as liable for the advice they don’t give as for that they do.

If you can demonstrate to your clients how to improve their profits, not only will they stick by you (as long as you keep that good advice coming), but they’ll also recommend their friends and business associates.

To stand out from the crowd you have to offer something different and go the extra mile. Don’t stop at helping people to manage their finances: If you help them to manage their businesses, the finances will flourish.

Malcolm Tullett
www.irm-safety.co.uk

Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0845 430 9461 or 07932 148699

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By edwardmuphy
02nd May 2017 07:43

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