Do I Legally Need a Health and Safety Consultant for My Business?

There is a question I hear, or variations of it, quite regularly: "Do I legally need a Health & Safety consultant?"

The short answer is no, not necessarily. However, there is an important distinction between needing a Health & Safety consultant and having access to competent Health & Safety support.

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must appoint one or more competent people to help them meet their Health & Safety duties. That competent person could be the business owner, someone within the organisation, an external consultant, or a combination of these. The important thing is that the person or people providing that support have the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience for the risks associated with the business.

So, if you're a small business owner wondering whether you need to immediately appoint an external Health & Safety consultant, the answer isn't automatically yes.

What Does "Competent Person" Actually Mean?

This is where things become important.

Being a competent person isn't simply about having a Health & Safety qualification. Competence needs to be appropriate to the business and the risks involved.

The HSE describes competence in terms of having the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to recognise hazards and help put sensible controls in place.

That means the person you appoint needs to understand the risks associated with your particular business. A competent person supporting a small, low-risk office environment may have very different experience from someone supporting a construction company, manufacturing operation, traffic management business, engineering company or waste facility.

Competence needs to match the risk.

Can I Manage Health & Safety Myself?

Potentially, yes.

For many small, low-risk businesses, Health & Safety management can be relatively straightforward, and the HSE recognises that businesses can manage their own Health & Safety with the help of their workers.

You don't need to appoint an external consultant simply because you have employees.

However, you do need to be confident that you have the knowledge, experience, time and resources to manage your responsibilities properly.

And this is where I think businesses can sometimes get caught out.

The question isn't necessarily "Do I have a Health & Safety consultant?"

The better question is "Do I have the competence to manage the risks in my business?"

If the answer is yes, that's fantastic. You may not need an external consultant.

If the answer is "I'm not sure," that's when it can be worthwhile looking at what support you actually need.

When Might an External Consultant Make Sense?

There isn't a magic number of employees where a business suddenly becomes legally required to appoint an external Health & Safety consultant.

Instead, I would look at the nature of the business, the risks involved and the level of competence available internally.

For example, are your activities high risk? Do you have machinery, vehicles, work at height, hazardous substances, excavation, lifting operations or other significant risks?

Is the business growing? Growth can introduce new employees, premises, equipment, contracts and operational risks.

Are you winning larger contracts? Clients may expect evidence of competent Health & Safety arrangements, audits, RAMS, SSIP accreditation or formal management systems.

Perhaps the biggest question is whether you actually have enough time to manage Health & Safety properly. Being the competent person isn't simply about having a policy sitting in a folder. Health & Safety needs to be planned, implemented, monitored and reviewed.

If you're already responsible for running the business, managing your people, winning work, dealing with customers and keeping the operation moving, finding the time to properly manage Health & Safety can become challenging.

So, What Should a Health & Safety Consultant Actually Do?

This is something I feel quite strongly about.

In my opinion, a Health & Safety consultant shouldn't simply arrive, write a policy, complete an audit and disappear.

Good consultancy should help a business understand why something needs to be done and, importantly, how to make it work in the real world.

Sometimes that means helping with compliance. Sometimes it means challenging the way something has always been done. Sometimes it's supporting a business through growth, a new contract, an incident or a significant change in operations.

And sometimes it's simply having someone experienced available to pick up the phone and say:

"Let's work through this together."

That's the approach I've taken with Cronin's Consultancy.

I don't believe businesses should use a consultant simply because they think the law says they have to. I believe they should use one when the right external expertise can genuinely make their business safer, stronger and better managed.

When Could External Support Add Real Value?

External support can be particularly useful where a business doesn't have the necessary competence internally, where the risks are significant or where the business is going through a period of change.

That might mean bringing someone in for a one-off independent review of your existing arrangements. It could mean support with risk assessments, policies, training or audits. It could involve helping you achieve SSIP accreditation or implement an ISO management system.

For some businesses, the most appropriate solution may be an ongoing retained arrangement where an external consultant becomes their competent person and provides regular advice and support.

There isn't one solution that works for every business.

The right level of support should be proportionate to the business and its risks.

Do I Legally Need a Health & Safety Consultant?

So, coming back to the original question: no, you don't automatically need to appoint a Health & Safety consultant.

What you do need is to ensure that your business has access to competent Health & Safety assistance appropriate to the size, nature and risks of your organisation.

That might be you. It might be someone within your team. It might be a combination of internal and external support. Or it might be an external competent person who becomes a trusted extension of your business.

The important thing isn't necessarily who provides the competence.

It's whether you genuinely have it.

And there is another important point to remember. Appointing an external consultant doesn't transfer the employer's legal responsibilities to that consultant. The business and its leadership retain overall responsibility for Health & Safety, while the competent person provides the appropriate advice, support and expertise.

Final Thoughts

Health & Safety shouldn't be something businesses are frightened into buying.

It should be something they understand and manage because they recognise the value of protecting their people, their business and their future.

That's ultimately what I want Cronin's Consultancy to help businesses achieve.

Not more paperwork for the sake of paperwork.

Not compliance for compliance's sake.

Practical Health & Safety that works for the business and, most importantly, protects the people within it.

If you're unsure whether your business currently has the right level of Health & Safety competence and support, I'm always happy to have an honest conversation about it.

You may need ongoing consultancy support.

You may only need a little bit of guidance.

Or you may already have everything you need.

The important thing is understanding where you are and making sure you're confident that your arrangements are doing what they need to do.

Cronin’s Consultancy

People first. Culture always. Compliance as the foundation.

Get in touch to discuss how your business can benefit from reviewing your current and future arrangements.