The Management Of Health And Safety In A Multi-Sport Complex : A Case Study

Abstract

Health and safety has become a major issue in the workplace since the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The HSWA 1974 then established the health and safety commission who are responsible for the generation of regulations and legislations. The Health and safety commission was later merged with the HSE on 1st April 2008. As the HSWA was conceived as enabling legislation it has facilitated the adoption of additional regulation that has been created by the European Union for example The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation 1999. This investigation aimed to identify discover strengths and areas for improvement of the current approach to the management and of health and safety at the UWIC sports facilities. The study aimed to highlight significant issues that have the potential to effect the management of health and safety. In particular the knowledge and understanding of key members of staff about the deployment of processes and procedures that are created to meet the legal obligations established by health and safety legislation and regulation. This was a qualitative study which involved semi structured interviews with key members of the UWIC facilities staff. The results indicated that there are many areas of good practice and factors which hinder the management of health and safety. Inconsistencies were identified in the understanding of process of risk assessments and communication between staff at different levels. It was concluded that there was a need for an improvement in communication in order to successfully undertake risk assessments and health and safety operations. Secondly it was concluded that better knowledge and understanding of regulations and legislation could significantly improve the quality of the management and administration of health and safety within the organisation.