Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Latest NewsHealth and safetyHR practiceWellbeingFacilities

HR given task of ensuring lessons are learned from disasters

by Greg Pitcher 2 May 2008
by Greg Pitcher 2 May 2008

Health and Safety Executive chair Judith Hackitt has called on HR professionals to ensure lessons learned from disasters such as the Buncefield oil explosion are not ignored.

Hackitt said that ensuring knowledge was recorded and passed down through generations of staff was vital to prevent major incidents in the future.

She told delegates at a HSE major hazards conference in Westminster last week that many mistakes that cause serious incidents were avoidable repeats of past failures.

“This can be put down to a loss of corporate memory in organisations,” she said. “The lessons of the past were forgotten because people moved on or because they were not recorded, so were not known by people in leadership positions.”

Hackitt added that HR professionals had to ensure these lessons were taken on by new members of staff.

“One of the challenges for HR is to generate a culture that allows the learnings of the 50-somethings to transfer to new generations so they don’t have to learn the hard way,” she said.

Trade unions called last year for improved training and advice for staff in the oil industry in the wake of a report by the Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Board.

That report challenged the industry to strengthen safety standards at UK sites handling large quantities of fuel to prevent another disaster like the explosions that hospitalised 60 people at the oil storage depot in Hertfordshire three years ago.

Work and pensions secretary James Purnell warned delegates at last week’s HSE conference that good people management was vital to avoiding such disasters.

“Having a well trained, fully committed workforce is vital,” Purnell said. “They will know how to spot the warning signs, and how to prevent them becoming major incidents.”

Avatar
Greg Pitcher

previous post
British Energy chief tasks HR with the job of finding staff for new nuclear plants
next post
HR offers to come clean on salaries in bid to promote pay parity

You may also like

Police Scotland pays out £948,000 to female officer...

16 May 2022

Crumbling school buildings ‘risk to life’ suggests leak

16 May 2022

Gender equality facing growing backlash from male managers

16 May 2022

Lack of flexibility pushes half of women to...

16 May 2022

How firms need to comply with sponsor licence...

16 May 2022

easyJet joins battle for cabin crew with £1,000...

16 May 2022

Ethnicity pay gaps: Not making reporting mandatory is...

16 May 2022

MP demands timeline on carer’s leave legislation

13 May 2022

Employment tribunal: use of word ‘bald’ can amount...

13 May 2022

‘Gulf War Syndrome’ caused by release of nerve...

13 May 2022

  • The importance of being an ethical leader and how to become one PROMOTED | What is ethical leadership?...Read more
  • RPO Report: 2022, The Year to Outsource PROMOTED | Employers should be overwhelmed with choice...Read more
  • Report: Enabling organisational agility through talent & people success PROMOTED | Work has been challenged...Read more
  • Employee Trends 2022 report PROMOTED | Edenred research on employees analysed the key employees’ trends for 2022...Read more
  • How finance apprenticeships can boost business PROMOTED | As the world’s most forward-thinking professional accountancy body...Read more
  • Paul Devoy: Showing appreciation to the Investors in People community PROMOTED | Ask most people what comes to mind when you mention Investors in People...Read more
  • White paper: How digitalisation can support evolving occupational health PROMOTED | Download this free white paper to discover how digitalisation can help occupational health meet emerging challenges...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today