Choose your consultant with care
Aug 15, 2011
All employers need competent advice so they know what they have to do to run their business in a legally compliant way. The competent advisor should preferably be an employee but external consultants are acceptable and can sometimes be the most economical solution for many small and medium sized enterprises. However, it is very important that the consultant selected is right for the business and has the right qualifications, experience, knowledge and personal skills to deliver the specific service that the business needs.
A recent court case demonstrates what can happen if sufficient care is not taken when appointing a consultant. A hotel owner instructed an external fire risk assessor to carry out fire risk assessments on two hotels in Mansfield. Subsequently, as part of a routine inspection, local fire officers found several serious fire safety contraventions at both hotels, including having fire risk assessments that were not suitable and sufficient. In this landmark case, the assessor who had carried out the fire risk assessments was jailed for 8 months. The hotelier was also found guilty of an offence of not having suitable and sufficient risk assessments, as well as other offences, and was also jailed for eight months. This case demonstrates that the duty on the employer cannot necessarily be passed on to a consultant, even if the consultant professes to be competent.
Wilby Risk Management regularly comes across the work of other health & safety consultants which is generally of a high standard. However, we do see examples where this is not the case. Just because a company can supply and service fire extinguishers does not make them competent in assessing fire safety management issues or determining the suitability of the means of escape from a building. We also see extensive policies and procedures for holiday campsites that do not mention caravans but rather reproduce the content of freely available information. Some clients are also unsure of what their consultants are contracted to deliver and at what point they can exit long term agreements.
It is important that employers remember that legal duties still rest with them even though they may have appointed consultants to assist them. Checking the competence of consultants, before appointment, and regularly reviewing the service delivered, are essential ways of reducing the likelihood of things going wrong.
The consultancy team at Wilby Risk Management are enrolled in a programme of continual professional development to keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date. Our approach is to deliver industry sector specific guidance so we can talk our clients’ language, understand the major challenges in their industries and add value to their businesses.
