Is there light at the end of the tunnel for employers with Government promises to check the compensation culture?

I’m sure many employers last week breathed a sigh of relief at the news of the Government plans to encourage a more common sense approach to Health and Safety. I believe the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will be equally relieved as they are frequently blamed for some of the dafter “Elf & Safety” initiatives and have to issue disclaimers that they are not responsible for councils banning lamp post mounted flower baskets in fear of falling flowers or children not being allowed to paddle on a school trip.

Unions have voiced their concern that this initiative of the Coalition Government may put employees at risk. I very much doubt this would be the case for now at least, there is a growing paternalistic culture in the UK which will always seek to protect the vulnerable.

It is this culture that will always mean that the requirement to have a robust Health and Safety Management System, with clear risk assessments and evidence of training, will reap benefits for all businesses.

The Management Standard BS OHSAS 18001 is a framework of best practice which, if implemented, could go a long way to reducing the likelihood of accidents which lead to lost time, profits and potentially legal action.

“Talking and Listening” lessons for business from this weeks political to-ings and fro-ings.

Last night the media was in a frenzy. On television, we were treated to unending shots of a silver Jaguar sitting in traffic which the broadcasters hoped was carrying the future Prime Minister to Buckingham Palace. After several days of negotiations between the Liberals and both the Labour and Conservative parties we were told that talks had broken down between the Liberal and the Labour parties and that the Conservatives had been more receptive to negotiate despite differences in their political manifesto’s and beliefs which had led to an agreement that they could govern together as a coalition.

What we saw last night was something that occurs regularly in business. That the people who are most prepared to talk, listen and negotiate are those who win, that its not a sign of weakness to seek middle ground whether in politics or business.

In the management standard ISO 9001, customer focus is a key requirement for certification, it specifies that businesses must develop communication processes to inform their customers about their products and services while also ensuring that they fully understand the customer’s requirements. If there are gaps between what is offered and what is required then negotiations should ensue until essential common ground is found or the order should be declined.

People say that talk is cheap, but in business it is invaluable when paired with listening to what your customers are telling you.