Work of the British Safety Council

The British Safety Council (BSC) deals with occupational health, safety and environmental issues. It’s an independent body founded in 1957. Among its most notable achievements is its help in creating the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Vision

The original vision of the British Safety Council was bold. It intended to eliminate most Workplace Accidents in the UK.

This vision remains. The BSC has changed the way it works, however. Many people who come to it today need help that applies internationally. As a result, the BSC deals with Health and Safety Issues with more than 50 countries around the globe.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the British Safety Council is to give up-to-date guidance about worldwide health, safety and environmental issues. Hence its services attract a wide range of companies.

These services fall into a number of categories. They combine to help meet the BSC’s purpose as effectively as possible.

Membership

Membership of the British Safety Council enables companies to have precise and relevant data about health, safety and the environment. Members can also use the BSC for practical initiatives that control Risk at Work and improve productivity. One offshoot of this is the enhancement of an organisation’s standing in the business community.

Training

The BSC offers a wide range of training courses. Some of these deal with everyday health and safety issues in the workplace. Such courses include manual handling, environmental awareness, and work-related stress management.

Other courses lead to occupational health and safety, risk assessment, and environmental management qualifications.

One advantage of using the BSC for such qualifications is the range of coverage. The qualifications start at Entry Level Awards and extend to Level 6 Diplomas.

Consultancy

The British Safety Council runs a consultancy service for health, safety and the environment. Companies can use BSC advice to manage relevant projects and to solve any difficulties.

Auditing

The world of health, safety and the environment can be complex. BSC provides an audit service that judges a business’ performance in these areas against national and international criteria.

These audits take one of four forms. The first is a BS OHSAS 18001:2007 compliance audit. This can give companies confidence that they meet the health and safety standards that both the UK and the EU require.

The Five Star Health and Safety Management System Audit of the BSC helps companies lower costs and increase performance. At the same time, it uses benchmarks to assess a company’s systems for health and safety.

The Five Star Environmental Audit works to a similar principle to the above. It focuses, however, on reducing a company’s carbon footprint.

Finally, a BSC combined audit allows a company the chance to assess its health and safety systems against both the Five Star benchmarks and BS OHSAS 18001:2007.

Other functions

Other functions of the British Safety Council involve raising the profile of health, safety and environmental matters. BSC does this by arranging award ceremonies, conferences and briefings. In this way it pushes the health, safety and environmental agendas forward both in the UK and abroad.