Bath and North East Somerset Council signs up to 'sensible risk' policy

457/SWW/09 25 August 2009

Bath and North East Somerset Council has joined forces with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to promote a 'sensible' approach to risk and combat some of the silly myths which have grown up around health and safety issues.

The official sign-up between Bath and North East Somerset Council's Chief Executive, John Everitt, and HSE Regional Director for Wales and South West, Terry Rose, took place this Tuesday (25 August 2009) at the Guild Hall, Bath. In signing, BANES has joined fellow South West Local Authorities Bristol, Devon, Exeter, Mendip, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Poole, Somerset, South Hams, Swindon, Teignbridge and Torridge and Sedgemoor District Council, in agreeing to adopt the 'ten principles of sensible risk management'. These principles give organisations practical, 'sensible' advice on what risk management should - and should not - encompass.

The 'Sensible Risk' campaign was first launched at the Local Government Association's (LGA) annual conference in Birmingham in July 2006, where an initial group of local authority Chief Executives signed up to the ten principles.

Terry Rose, HSE's Regional Director, said:

"We've all heard the stories about health and safety banning hanging baskets or making children wear goggles to play conkers. This is not what we are about - it is not what HSE wants, not what councils want and not what the law requires.

"We want to focus our attention on practical steps which protect people from real risks - the type of risks which can lead to injury and death. What we don't want is to stop people from living their lives.

"I would like all Local Authorities in the South West to work with us to promote the key messages of the Sensible Risk campaign. Together we can embed these principles into our working culture and ensure the decisions we make focus on the real task of saving lives."

Chief Executive of Bath and North East Somerset Council, John Everitt, added:

"The principles of sensible risk should apply not only to the day jobs of Bath & North East Somerset Council staff, but also the way in which our employees deal with members of the public. By signing-up to the HSE principles the Council is demonstrating its commitment to balancing our duty to protect all residents in the community with their right to enjoy a fulfilled life."

More information can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/index.htm

Notes to editors

Sensible risk management is about:

• Ensuring that workers and the public are properly protected
• Providing overall benefit to society by balancing benefits and risks, with a focus on reducing real risks - both those which arise more often and those with serious consequences
• Enabling innovation and learning not stifling them
• Ensuring that those who create risks manage them responsibly and understand that failure to manage real risks responsibly is likely to lead to robust action
• Enabling individuals to understand that as well as the right to protection, they also have to exercise responsibility

Sensible risk management is not about:

• Creating a totally risk-free society
• Generating useless paperwork mountains
• Scaring people by exaggerating or publicising trivial risks
• Stopping important recreational and learning activities for individuals where the risks are managed
• Reducing protection of people from risks that cause real harm and suffering

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News and PR South West and Wales.