The last thing that any small business needs is a worker or customer getting hurt on their premises. Unfortunately, 15,000 small businesses in Ireland experience a workplace accident each year – that’s 1 in 6 – with an average cost of over €9,000 to each business involved, and an average compensation payout of over €32,000. Add to that the fact that small businesses often rely on one or two key employees, and the impact following the loss of a key employee due to prolonged absence after a workplace accident can be devastating.
So how do you protect yourself, your employees and your business? It’s simple – you need to proactively manage safety and health to minimise the chance of an accident occurring.
To help small businesses do exactly that, the Health and Safety Authority has developed BeSMART.ie – a free, easy to use, on-line tool that helps small businesses prepare a safety statement and risk assessments specific to their workplace.
BeSMART.ie helps small businesses deal with health and safety in a way that is quicker, easier and cheaper. The benefits of using this unique service include:
- Fewer accidents
- Less paperwork
- Less cost
- Less absenteeism
- Simplified safety and health
- Improved staff morale and motivation
BeSMART.ie guides you through the risk assessment process in a way that is simple and straightforward. Not only is this method so much easier than starting from scratch, but a safety statement produced using BeSMART.ie already contains relevant information and templates, so it saves valuable time.
BeSMART.ie is written in plain English and it guides you through a simple four-step process, starting with searching for your business type and ending with printing off your safety statement. BeSMART.ie does all the hard work for you – you simply register, select your business type and then work your way through the system answering ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘not applicable’.
You then need to walk around your workplace, consult with your employees and make sure all the hazards have been risk assessed. There’s even a blank template to allow you to risk assess any hazards specific to your workplace that have not been covered by the system. After all, you and your employees know your workplace better than anyone else. When you have finished you can download, edit and print YOUR Safety Statement.
In addition, BeSMART.ie has a whole library of guidance material in the ‘Learn More’ section which you can use to help you manage health and safety, and which can also be used for employee training. Like everything on BeSMART.ie, it’s absolutely FREE!
Over 24,000 small businesses in Ireland have already taken advantage of this free resource. Feedback from BeSMART.ie users to date indicates a minimum 90% reduction in cost and 75% reduction in the time involved in undertaking risk assessments and preparing a safety statement for their workplace. This is what one small business owner had to say about BeSMART.ie:
‘’An absolute godsend! Great, so simple to use and easy step-by-step instructions. Took me only a couple of hours to have everything sorted. Thanks a lot.’’
Bar Manager, Dublin
To register for BeSMART.ie all you need is your name, an email address and a password of your choice. You will receive a validation email by return and once activated you’re good to go. It’s as simple as that. The information you provide it completely confidential, and because BeSMART.ie is online you can use it at a time and location that suits you.
So what are you waiting for? Make the smart decision on safety – register at BeSMART.ie today.