Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • 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
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • 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
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Health and safetyLatest NewsHR 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.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

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.”

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

Number of police working second jobs doubles

15 Jul 2025

Mansion House speech: will employers’ pension contributions rise?

15 Jul 2025

University staff to strike over hybrid working curbs

15 Jul 2025

Employees voting with feet as return-to-office pressure increases...

15 Jul 2025

Businesses warned against reducing recruitment in favour of...

15 Jul 2025

Postmasters could take ownership of Post Office

14 Jul 2025

Ethnicity and disability pay gaps: Ready to report?...

14 Jul 2025

Manager dismissed after covert recording with HR wins...

14 Jul 2025

Food sector warned it is facing a workforce...

14 Jul 2025

Gregg Wallace investigation: 45 allegations upheld

14 Jul 2025

  • Empower and engage for the future: A revolution in talent development (webinar) WEBINAR | As organisations strive...Read more
  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...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 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • 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
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today