HSE has warned employers across the UK that employee insurance is a necessary formality that ought to be undertaken diligently. Failure to have insurance as prescribed by law amounts to failure to ensure protection of employees.
According to prevailing law, all employers who fall within the purview of the Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance Act of 1969 are bound to have adequate employee insurance as prescribed by the provisions given herein. They must retain a copy of the ELCI certificate and must present it when asked for by an HSE inspector.
The ELCI provisions are aimed at protecting employees in case of any accidents at the workplace. Failure on part of an employer to take such insurance shows that he has failed to give optimum attention to safety and health concerns of his employees.
The warning was issued after a case in Cambridgeshire, where an employer was found lacking the required certificate. Retail shop owner Dipak Kumar Kantial Solanki owns a store in Melbourn. He was requested to show a current ELCI certificate during a routine check by an Environmental Health Officer. Mr Solanki was unable to do this. Even on being given some time to present the certificate, the retailer was still unable to produce the document required. This led to a charge sheet being issued by HSE against the retailer.
During court proceedings, HSE charged Mr Solanki with breach of Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. Cambridge Magistrates’ Court found him guilty and imposed on him a fine of £500 per offence plus costs of £539.60.
Speaking about the case, HSE inspectors said that employers must keep in mind that employee insurance is compulsory and that HSE takes a serious view of failure to conform to this requirement.
All organisations need to make appropriate efforts to protect the well-being of staff, Workplace Law provide courses by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which impart training to managers to successfully manage appropriate policies and procedures and improve upon management skills
Nowadays some human resource managers feel that, by supplying staff with training in health and safety, they now have all the skills they need to prevent an emergency. The truth of the matter is that, irrespective of the industry you’re in, a basic education in health and safety regulatory affairs just isn’t sufficient. You must provide your staff with an enthusiastic supervisor, not to mention provide the right safety gear and give them the opportunity to practice. A team supervisor has a greater purpose to perform than just managing the work environment. Any supervisor you choose must consider that health and safety instruction is crucial and be able to get everyone else feeling enthusiastic. In addition to ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations, the individual supervising furthermore must check that employees perform every task to the best of their abilty. Of course it’s tough to do all this at once. Up-to-date business knowledge is an essential in a supervisory role in addition to an advanced knowledge of the latest legislation involving safety, risk appraisal and CPR. Supplying health and safety training really isn’t adequate for your workers. To positively identify a risk they must get to put their knowledge to the test. Staff must understand the best method of eradicating hazards as well as how best to cope if the worst happens. Your employees are only completely prepared when everything has become second nature. Education is in fact useless without the required safety gear. If they are without equipment that is necessary, or even discover that they’re broken only after an emergency has occurred, all the training in the world can not help them. Servicing your equipment on a regular basis is crucial. When you have a fault with your equipment, ensure it is mended or serviced as swiftly as possible.
Your workers need to receive proper health and safety education, but they also need to have good quality supplies, the opportunity to practise, and an educated supervisor who gets employees to feel enthusiastic about working safely. And then complying with health and safety legislation will soon become part of your employee’s working habits and no longer something troublesome everyone has to make an effort to remember.