RoSPA launches working time regulations consultancy

11 September 2009

Firms are being offered a helping hand to meet the demands of working time rules with a new service from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

RoSPA’s Working Time Regulations Review has been developed to aid businesses keen to ensure they are protecting their staff and meeting legal requirements. All employers have a duty under the Working Time Regulations to manage the amount of hours their staff work.

However, complications can arise when there is uncertainty about which department should implement and monitor the responsibilities - they may fall under the remit of both human resources and health and safety.

RoSPA’s review offers an alternative to confusion with a visit from one of the safety charity’s consultants to evaluate the extent of an organisation’s compliance with the regulations and offer business-enhancing advice. It is also available as a desktop review.

The service can include the creation of an appropriate working time policy, the inclusion of working time issues within procedures and help with planning, setting and monitoring standards.

Vince Murphy, RoSPA workplace safety service delivery manager, said: “Excessive working is counter-productive as well as illegal and having a system in place to properly manage employees’ hours can help reduce time lost through work-related ill health.

“Indeed, compliance with safety and health regulations should never be done begrudgingly, but instead with the confidence that proper investment in the wellbeing of your employees pays dividends for the bottom line.”

The consultant’s report provides firms with a step-by-step approach to an effective and lasting programme for the management of working time issues.

In addition, the service identifies key procedures which can help to lower the risk of work-related ill health which can stem from excessive working at all levels within organizations.