Advanced Principles and Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Advanced Principles and Practice - Essay Example It is no doubt that the company will undergo a lot of losses due to an injury that could be avoided by simply following the rules. The government has Health and Safety practitioners whose responsibility is to ensure that the organisations adhere to these rules and regulations. They interpret the rules to the employers and ensure that they follow them constantly. It has been argued that the practitioners are interested in preventing law suites against employers of companies rather than protecting the workforce when they ensure that the rules are adhered to. Like all other countries, the UK has not been left behind in ensuring safety for workers and for this reason it has its own Health and Safety legislation. It is also important to look at the competency of the Health and Safety practitioners to know if they have the right skills and knowledge to fully interpret the rules. The United Kingdom has the primary document that set out the health and safety regulations in occupations; Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The Act ensures that it has fully explained the regulations that all types of companies are expected to follow. It mainly protects people at work according to the activities they are carrying out. It should be noted that not all regulations can be employed by all departments or companies. The regulations depend on the activities each department or company is undertaking. For instance a bank will have an emergency door in case of fire but one can not find protective clothing against emission of dangerous fumes like in a factory that is producing paper or making plastic bags (Colin, 2004, pp. 120-160). Common Health and Safety Regulations There are common rules that every employer despite the kind of company must adhere to. First of all, every employer has the responsibility of ensuring that practicable Health and Safety rules are in existence within the organisation. The rules and regulations should aim at protecting all employees. The employer needs to ensure that there is maintenance of the plant and all working systems or machines. Constant maintenance will prevent accidents that can be caused by break down of various machines. It is important to ensure maintenance such as changing roofs, mending floors to prevent the risk of falling down, pipe leakages and so on (Colin, 2004, pp. 120-160) . Every company needs to have training sessions for their employees on how to employ safety rules as they work. Training is done when employees are just joining the organisation. Employees are trained on how to handle machines and tools within the organisation. They are also trained on where to find protective clothing and how to handle them. There is need to carry out training of employees so that they can know where they can find First Aid tool kits and emergency doors. When a new machine is introduced within the company, then the workforce needs to know how to handle it and its maintenance to prevent accidents that can be brought about by neglecting it. It is the responsibility of the employer to train its employees in First Aid measures to help in case an accident occurs. Employees can be given training on how to behave in case there is a fire. They can be taught how to use fire extinguishers and the emergency water pipes. A drill can be used by Health and Safety practitioners to c heck if a company can respond well in case of fire emergency. It can see if the company has fire sensors that immediately release water when there is emission of smoke, emergency exit doors and fire extinguishers. Sometimes employees can decide not to follow the safety rules employed by the company, thus the employer can decide to appoint a supervisor who understands the