The manufacturers’ organisation EEF and the HSE have revived their long-standing strategic partnership.
The partnership, which was first launched in 2006, provides the HSE with a conduit to share key messages to almost 6000 manufacturing companies. It also creates a forum for the development of practical health and safety guidance for manufacturing businesses.
The renewal of the partnership agreement covers a number of areas, including:
• promoting effective health and safety management across manufacturing industries;
• ensuring manufacturing companies receive the latest information and guidance from the HSE, as well as making it easier for manufacturers to raise issues, concerns and examples of good practice with the regulator;
• cooperation on joint training events;
• creation of an annual joint delivery plan, which disseminates key messages on the benefits of effective health and safety management, and specifies proactive joint initiatives;
• developing strategic approaches to collaborative working, including linkages within regional structures and policy teams of both organisations; and
• creation of a shared online communications portal for HSE and EEF staff to exchange information.
Commenting on the agreement, HSE chair Judith Hackitt said: “The manufacturing industry is a very important part of the British economy and provides huge numbers of jobs. There has been real progress made in reducing work-related ill health and injury in the sector. However, our latest statistics show that manufacturing remains a high-risk sector, so there is still a real need for all of us – regulators, employers, employees and representative organisations like EEF – to continue driving improvements.
“We’re pleased to be working with EEF to make it simpler and clearer for manufacturers to understand what they need to do to manage risk sensibly and proportionately, which should lead to further improvement in performance.”
EEF chief executive Terry Scuoler added: “We greatly value both the senior-level engagement with HSE to promote health and safety leadership in manufacturing and also the operational aspects of the partnership, where we can provide practical tools, advice and guidance for our members to improve the safety and well-being of their worker.”
