The purpose of safety legislation is protection, protection and protection: - protection of employees and the public, protection of company assets and protection of the wellbeing of economic sectors

Employers and the self-employed are required by criminal, civil and insurance contract law to comply with legislation, codes of practice, sector best practice and technical standards.

Bursec International Safety Consultants are safety compliance experts, in all sectors. We particularly specialise in the marine/fishing sector.

Legislation lays down procedures that must be followed, outlines minimum standards for safety management and specifies documentation that must be kept.

DOCUMENTATION

Documentation, such as the safety statement required under the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 or the food manual required by the Food Safety Act, 1998, is at the nub of providing a defence against claims of negligence.

Where legislation requires that certain procedures and documentation are in place, to defend a negligence case in court a business must be able to show records that prove that procedures are in order and that documents have been properly managed.

It is important that these record systems are specific in nature, clear and contain the essential details required by the relevant legislation.

In the event of an accident, the relevant records and documentation can show the authorities or the courts that you were not negligent, careless or reckless. They also help to find the cause of an accident or near miss, and allow you to eliminate or minimise the chance of it happening again.

As compliance specialists, Bursec consultants can provide the required documentation and record-keeping systems. Our expertise allows your business to minimise its input of resources in terms of cost, time and expertise.

SMALL BUSINESS

Our services are geared to provide to small business the same level of protection that large corporations have, at a much lower cost. Compliance is extremely important for small business. If a small business faces a personal injury claim or a fine for non-compliance, if it loses a number of customers because of a safety scare, of has a period of down-time due to regulatory controls such as a food safety closure or a prohibition order, it is capable of building up a debt that it cannot recover from. For reputation and financial protection, small firms need to deal with safety obligations perhaps even to a greater extent that large business.

Since the 1980s, much regulation has been introduced and imposed on employers. This is in response to accidents – some disastrous, and demands from the public and from industry. The purpose is protection, three-fold: to protect employees, customers and other people that could be harmed by the company’s activities; to protect the assets of the business; and, to protect the viability of economic sectors.

If a business has a reputation for accidents or poor safety management, there will be a lack of confidence and others won’t choose to do business with it.

A record of bad safety in an industry or sector leads to closures, unemployment, low wages, industrial and labour relation conflicts.

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