Health & Safety legislation requires employers to appoint one or more ‘competent persons’ to provide advice and assist overall in the implementation of measures they need to take to comply with the legal requirements. Many employers have a suitably qualified in-house H&S Manager or Adviser, particularly if the business is large or complex in its work activities. Some employers choose to use an external H&S consultancy such as Safewell – this may supplement existing in-house H&S arrangements or may be the sole source of H&S advice.
H&S consultancy is typically provided by way of a retained 12-month contract or one-off consultancy work. In a retained contract, specific support activities are discussed and agreed to be delivered over the term of the contract (e.g. H&S audit, review policy & procedures, risk assessment, training provision, site inspections etc) as well as provision of ongoing email and telephone support. A monthly payment schedule is set up which spreads the cost over the contract term. One-off consultancy normally focusses on a specific piece of required work (e.g. H&S audit, provision of manual handling training, conduct a site transport risk assessment, premises fire risk assessment etc). This type of work is invoiced prior to or at the time the work is done.
Safewell’s aim is to provide you with clear professional advice and practical support to deliver sustainable improvement, lower the risk of injury and ill health, secure legal compliance and reduce your liabilities. It is important to note that H&S consultancy does not constitute delegation of your legal health and safety duties to manage H&S – your duties under the relevant statutory provisions remain your responsibility, with Safewell engaged by you in an advisery capacity.
Click below to understand more about what our consultants do.
We have worked with Safewell for many years and are retained clients, so we have developed an excellent working relationship with the team. However, this really came into its own when Covid 19 appeared.
As a Plumbing and Heating business, we were able to carry on working during the lockdown but only for responding to emergencies. We were obviously very concerned about the health and safety of our employees and before we even had chance to get in touch with Safewell, they had emailed us offering their assistance. It is hard to put down on paper how that made us feel - we like everyone else felt totally at sea, which way to turn, what to do? But Safewell were there guiding, supporting and being totally brilliant. Their attention to detail is very impressive and reassuring and we feel able to ask lots of questions without feeling silly.
During the pandemic Safewell helped us to write risk assessments, safety procedures and protocols. They kept in touch regularly, issuing new guidance as soon as it appeared and checking in with us. They held group Q&A sessions over Zoom which were helpful, and knowing other businesses were facing the same challenges and having the opportunity to discuss issues was invaluable. Their help during the preparation for a full return to work was brilliant, they enabled us to be fully prepared and feel in control, and when we had our first case of Covid within the team, because we had planned our response it felt ok.
I think our team felt very reassured by our robust approach and that our office was Covid secure. We are extremely grateful to all the team at Safewell
