HSE/HSC launch Health and Safety Grant Scheme pilot for small firms

HSE Press Release E153:02 - 30 July 2002

Today the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched the Small Firms Assistance Scheme (SFAS), a pilot grant scheme designed to help small firms improve their health and safety performance.

The scheme will run until May 2003 and will be operated on behalf of HSE by the Small Business Service and Business Links. It will operate in three regions - West Yorkshire, Essex, and Devon and Cornwall, which together represent the full range of industrial and rural small firms in Britain. The scheme will operate on a matched-funding basis.

Health and safety law requires employers to have a health and safety policy, conduct a risk assessment, take all reasonable measures to control the risks associated with their work activities, and have access to competent health and safety advice. For firms with more than five employees, the safety policy and risk assessment must be documented.

Research commissioned by HSE has shown that generally small firms struggle with applying health and safety law effectively, but are reluctant to approach HSE directly for advice. The pilot scheme aims to plug this gap by providing the kind of help they need through intermediary organisations.

Judith Donovan, CBE, Health and Safety Commissioner for small firms said:

"All employers in Britain have legal responsibilities under health and safety law - and there is no reason why compliance should be expensive, time-consuming, or complicated. But for many small firms, health and safety is seen as a black hole. They know it's important, but they are unsure where to start.

"This scheme is designed to take the mystery out of health and safety by improving small firms' awareness and understanding of the issues. It is intended to generate sustained benefits by providing mentoring and training to encourage good practice and compliance with the law."

Notes to editors

1. What the scheme offers

Eligible small firms will have access of up to 50 per cent funding (to a maximum of £1000), with the remainder of the cost being met by the firms themselves. The funding can be used to undertake health and safety training and/or access mentoring as follows:

• health and safety awareness raising seminars as part of the Business Link induction package to pre starts;
• mentoring (advice and practical assistance with getting started on health and safety from a small business adviser) delivered on site to start ups;
• a choice of mentoring and/or training to micro firms that have been established for longer than a year.

The scheme is open to those thinking of starting up a business, new business start-ups and micro firms in the participating BL regions providing they have:

• fewer than 10 employees and
• either an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 7m (£4, 499,004) or
• an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 5m (£3,213,574) and
• not more than 25% of the capital or voting rights owned by an enterprise which is not itself a Small Medium Enterprise (SME).

3. More information about applications

For further information about the scheme and to apply for funding applicants should contact their local Business Link taking part in the pilot;

HSE hopes that the scheme will assist as many small businesses as possible and will help to improve their awareness of, and understanding in dealing with, health and safety risks in small businesses.

4. The small firms pilot is intended to help meet the improvement targets set out in the HSC's and Government's Revitalising Health and Safety (RHS) initiative. HSC Chair Bill Callaghan and the Deputy Prime Minister launched RHS on 7 June 2000. It includes a 44-point action plan which aims to achieve, by the year 2010, the following targets: reduce the incidence of working days lost from work-related injury and ill-health by 30 per cent; reduce the incidence of people suffering from work related ill health by 20 per cent; reduce the rate of fatal and major injury accidents by 10 per cent. There is an additional target of achieving half of each improvement by the year 2004.

5. Research referred to is Gadd, R., O'Hara, R., Dickety, N. & Weyman, A. (2000) Good Practice by SMEs in Assessing Workplace Risks. HSL Report no RAS/00/12

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