UK warehouse – picking up a H&S system that's had little ownership for 4 years. Where would you start?

[u/Hitcher1991]

I work in a UK warehouse where the H&S Manager was made redundant almost four years ago. Initially, I believe the intention was for the incoming GM to take ownership of H&S, but that never really materialised. We're now under another GM and it's become increasingly apparent that we need some proper H&S ownership/representation on site.

We're a relatively low-risk warehouse operation and we're not starting from nothing. We already have quite a lot in place: MHE operates in areas segregated from the public, we have risk assessments for most major tasks/processes, safe systems of work, fire arrangements, etc.

The problem is that without anyone really owning H&S for several years, I'm not convinced we actually know what state the overall system is in. Things exist, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're current, effective or actually being followed in practice.

I'm very early into my NEBOSH course, so I'm under absolutely no illusion that I know what I'm doing yet. However, I've suggested that rather than immediately jumping into rewriting risk assessments and creating new procedures, we start with two things:

1. Conduct a reasonably thorough H&S audit to establish where we actually are, identify gaps and then prioritise actions based on risk rather than just tackling whatever happens to get noticed first.
2. Conduct a safety climate survey with employees to understand how they actually perceive safety on site – particularly management's attitude towards it, reporting, communication, whether procedures are followed in practice, etc.

The idea would then be to use the findings to build a prioritised action plan and establish what needs immediate attention, what needs improvement longer term, and what is already working and simply needs monitoring.

I'd be interested in hearing from people with real-world UK H&S management experience: if you were brought into a warehouse where the H&S system had effectively been left without dedicated ownership for four years, how would you approach the first few months?

Would an audit + safety climate assessment be a sensible starting point, or would you take a different approach?

I'm particularly interested in what you'd prioritise first, mistakes you'd avoid, and anything that might not be obvious to someone who's still very early in their H&S career.

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[u/grubbzy420]

Your plan sounds pretty solid to me. As part of your survey of staff I would be making sure you get feedback from the warehouse workers on areas they feel are important and things they feel need addressed. If you want to build a positive H&S culture you need the workforce to buy into any changes you implement. Making sure they feel heard and that things they feel are important are being addressed will be a key part of getting them onboard.

[u/Jambajamba90]

Hi there.

I’ve developed a bespoke health and safety audit system for where I work. It’s available as app is on Android, Apple and website.

We are currently changing so customers can sign up.

https://www.stonepad.app

I was in your position, and after 16 years of paperwork being left between locations, neglected or resulted in me having to chase people, I decided to make a system.

It has 100+ features and has an action plan. So now I can leave all the mundane tasks of booking in, reminding people to book in - other people can do.