Nine cost-saving health and safety tips for builders merchants  

by Angela Southall, Director and Co-Founder of Health and Safety Consultancy Southalls, the company that provides the BMF Safety Plus service, offers advice to keep you sane, and safe  
3 July 2018


Saving time and money is imperative when you are operating in a competitive market. But it is not at all easy to combine cost-cutting with good health and safety practice. After all, overlook key health and safety requirements and you will find yourself vulnerable to all manner of fines and civil claims.  

It can be difficult to find cheaper health and safety solutions without compromising on safety but from over a decade of experience of working with merchants, we’ve put together a few money-saving tips:  

1. Decrease your PAT frequency  

Portable appliance testing (PAT) is an essential part of electrical safety for business merchants. However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has estimated that employers are wasting more than £30m per annum on unnecessary testing.  

Items that are in heavy use or exposed to the elements e.g. portable hand tools may require 6 monthly portable appliance testing but office based equipment like desktop computers and VDU screen would not require testing at all if double insulated or, if not, then testing only 5 yearly would be adequate providing they receive a visual inspection every 2-4 years.  

2. Consult on PPE and bulk buy  

When it comes to saving on health and safety, buying items in bulk can help. It is also important to consult with staff to ensure items are fully fit for purpose - this can be a particular issue for female workers and those workers who are at the edges of sizes.   A number of merchants have seen reductions in lost time accidents through the provision of gloves to all yard staff, reducing hand injuries.  

3. Conduct independent racking inspections  

Independent racking inspections are not legally required, but would be recommended if you have a significant amount of racking. Alternatively, in house monthly visual checks on the condition of racking checking for knocks, deflection, overloading or poorly loaded stocked can be conducted in house. Safety software such as Safety Cloud can manage monthly inspections conducted by managers, and these can be complimented by six-monthly audits by companies such as Southalls.  

4. Implement E-learning training systems  

Whether for day zero induction training or ongoing refresher training, Southalls E-learning on Safety Cloud ensures staff get up to speed on essential safety training such as fire safety awareness and manual handling without the time and expensive of face-to-face training providers. Further merchant specific training including, racking awareness, work at height, powerline safety, workplace transport and banksman training can all be conducted through Safety Cloud.  

5. Accident investigation and Accident Statistics  

If an accident does occur, it is imperative that you can learn from it as quickly as possible. By bringing on a qualified consultant, you can minimise your reputational damage, chance of prosecution or enforcement action and implement practical preventative measures to prevent a re-occurrence. The cost of management time eaten up in an accident investigation can be reduced if a suitably experienced and qualified consultant is brought in from the start.  

6. Be examination savvy  

Avoiding unnecessary examinations of lifting equipment is a quick way to save money, so every business-owner should understand which reviews are legally required, and which are not. Pallet trucks are not defined as lifting equipment under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) and therefore they do not require a thorough examination.   Sometimes through examinations are duplicated by both an insurer and another service provider. Thereby unnecessary doubling of cost.   Where pedestrian lifting cages are used with a forklift, nominating designated forklifts to be used with the lifting cage that are then thoroughly examined six monthly is more cost-effective than simply thoroughly examining all lift trucks on the site every six monthly.  

7. Legionella Sampling  

Occasionally we come across merchants paying for independent Legionella water sampling, system cleaning or testing of water temperatures at taps on a rolling contract. If you operate on a domestic scale system then this expenditure is completely unnecessary.  

8. Asbestos overkill  

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations require merchants to assess and manage the risk of asbestos. This is achieved through the undertaking of an asbestos survey and complimented by an asbestos management plan. There is no legal requirement to re-survey on an annual basis, only to review the survey and management plan you have in place.  

9. Equipment and machinery maintenance  

Keeping equipment and machinery maintained saves money on callouts or breakages, and reduces the subsequent downtime. Using a system like Southalls Safety Cloud manages this process efficiently through automatic email reminders when maintenance tasks are due.  


If you would like to discuss any of the issues in this article or any other health and safety matter, please contact Southalls on 0345 257 4015 or e-mail [email protected]. Our team of highly-qualified and experienced consultants will be happy to answer your questions.  

Southalls specialise in helping builders merchants stay on top of their health and safety legal requirements, keeping their staff and customers safe, and their businesses compliant. For information about the BMF Safety Plus service or to discuss anyof the issues in this article, please, get in touch with the Southalls team on 0345 257 4015 or [email protected]    


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This article appeared in the Helpdesk in the June 2018 edition of BMJ