Latest News

Why Choose ESS For Your Health and Safety Consultancy

Posted on Friday, 23rd November 2018

Essential Site Skills are health and safety experts with a health and safety consultancy service.

Did you know that every business in the UK with five or more employees is required by law to have certain health and safety procedures in place?

We know it’s not the most exciting thing that you want to be thinking about – especially if your business sector is not particularly health and safety focused (maybe you’re in the creative industries or something equally esoteric, as opposed to the building trade?) – but if you don’t get your business’ health and safety policies right then you could be storing up a whole lot of trouble for yourself.

However, especially for smaller businesses, the burden of employing someone simply to do the health and safety is simply not practical, which is why a Health and Safety Consultant often makes much more sense.

With a highly qualified and experienced team of Health and Safety Consultants, Essential Site Skills are the perfect choice for your business, no matter what industry or sector you’re in.

With ESS, your business can be certain it is 100% health and safety compliant in the leanest, most efficient way possible, so that you can get on and run your business with confidence.


What Is The Health And Safety Law For Business?

The health and safety law for businesses operating in the UK can seem complex at times – after all, there are so many rules and regulations that it can seem daunting, and cries of too much red tape are sometimes easy to go along with.  

Nevertheless, the health and safety law exists in this country for a reason and it is often the very reason that the UK has such low instances of work-related injuries when compared to the rest of the world. In fact, according to the HSE’s latest statistics, the UK is second only to Finland when it comes to fatal injuries sustained at work, so it’s clear all those regulations are doing their job and keeping us all safe in the workplace.

However, that doesn’t mean that it can’t sometimes feel a little overwhelming, especially if you’re trying to make sure your business is compliant with all the health and safety law, as well as all the regulations you need to adhere to as a business owner.

According to UK law, any business with five or more employees is legally required to have the following;

  • A documented Health and Safety Policy, which must be kept up-to-date and accessible to all staff.
  • A Health and Safety Manual, which provides all the relevant information your staff need to know.
  • An additional up-to-date Risk Assessment Document, which covers any potential hazards in your workplace.
  • Sufficient training for all members of staff, dependent on their role and the risk/requirements thereof.  
  • Access to professional health and safety advice, either provided internally or by an external agent.

Failure to comply with any of the above could lead to serious consequences, including criminal prosecution, unlimited fines, prison sentences and loss of reputation, so it’s simply not worth the risk to ignore these regulations.


image of a health and safety manual for ESS blog on health and safety consultancy


Should I Employ A Health and Safety Specialist or Hire A Health And Safety Consultant?  

Whilst your legal obligations as a business are clear, the precise rules and regulations that govern this area of law can be tricky and convoluted, so you need to make sure you leave executing this task in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing and can keep abreast of all the latest changes to the law and the regulations.  

One of the most efficient ways of ensuring this is to hire an employee whose role it is to be in charge of the company’s health and safety procedures. If you’re running a large firm, especially if you’re in one of the key health and safety sectors, such as the construction industry, healthcare, social care or education, then this is likely to be the most effective solution for you. With hundreds of employees, especially if they’re on multiple sites or are particularly exposed to hazards, then a dedicated health and safety official who is always on hand is likely to be the best option.

However, as we’ve already pointed out, if you are running a small or medium sized business and don’t have hundreds of employees, or if your company is only exposed to a medium or small amount of risk on a daily basis, then it might just not be cost effective to hire someone whose specific role is health and safety.

In that case, hiring a Health and Safety Consultant from a specialist third party company – such as ESS – is likely to be the perfect solution for you, and will save you time, worry and stress.  


Image shows an Essential Site Skills branded vehicle


Why Should I Choose ESS As My Health And Safety Consultant?

Here at Essential Site Skills, our team of highly trained Health and Safety Consultants can provide your business with the flexible yet dedicated support it needs to ensure full legal compliance.

Our health and safety experts have many years of experience of both the practical and academic sides of health and safety law and have worked in multiple sectors with many different types of businesses.

We can help you with any aspect of your health and safety procedures, whether that be legally required assessments, policy writing, auditing or simply just a bit of advice (our health and safety advice line is open 7 days a week!). Hence, we can provide you with the whole shebang, or just help you out as and when you need it, with no commitments.

Just to give you a flavour, the following are just some of the areas of health and safety that ESS can help your business out with;

  • Policy & Documentation Writing/Reviewing
  • Auditing & Site Safety Inspections
  • CDM
  • Health Management Support
  • Accident Investigation
  • Rescue Plan Implementation
  • Training & Accreditation Support
  • Contractor Competency Checks
  • Qualifications & Funding (CSCS/CPCS)
  • Risk Assessments & Inspections
  • Fire Auditing & Safety
  • CPP Assistance
  • Asbestos Surveying & Support
  • PPE/RPE Purchase & Service
  • And much more!

Hence, as a specialist health and safety company, you can be certain that your business will get all the expertise it needs from ESS, without the need to train up your existing staff or hire any new employees in-house.

Thanks to our flexible approach too, there are no lengthy contracts, and we can work with you on a long-term basis or on one-off projects, so we can be there when you need us and aren’t an added expense when you don’t.

Basically, thanks to ESS, there’s no reason to ever go anywhere else for your health and safety consultancy needs!


Get In Touch

If you’d like to find out more about ESS’ Health and Safety Consultancy, or would like to speak to one of our specialist consultants about a specific project you have on the horizon, then simply get in touch with us today.

You can pick up the phone and call us on 0115 8970 529 or drop us an email at [email protected] and speak directly to one of the team. And we promise real people on the end of the line, no robots!!

 Alternatively, you can find out more by browsing the website