Health and Safety Gap Analysis

If you aren’t regularly assessing your health and safety policies, then you can only guess how effective they really are.

A Health and Safety Gap Analysis helps to remove any guesswork, allowing you to see what you’re doing well and what policies need to be improved or implemented. 

What is a Health and Safety Gap Analysis?

A Health and Safety Gap Analysis is a tool that helps organisations to identify gaps between their current health and safety management system and the desired systems.

The process works by reviewing current health and safety procedures, identifying any gaps and then implementing policies to address issues and improve your organisations health and safety.


Who needs a Health and Safety Gap Analysis?


Generally speaking, any organisation that wants to ensure they are compliant with safety legislation and standards should be conducting a Health and Safety Gap Analysis.

There are a few key situations when a business may need a Health and Safety Gap Analysis:

  • You are a new business and want to establish a robust health and safety framework from the beginning
  • Your business operates in an industry with a high risk of hazards
  • Your business has undergone changes such as new processes, upgraded equipment or an organisation restructure
  • Your business has a history of incidents and you’re looking to understand the root cause
  • You are generally looking to improve the safety culture for your staff and guests


Our Health and Safety Gap Analysis process

At Lanahan Risk Management Services, our team will visit your premises in order to review your working practices, compliance with legislation and company attitudes towards health and safety.

Our Health and Safety Gap Analysis process includes the following steps:

  • Outlining your legal obligations - One of the first steps is to understand the health and safety standards and legal obligations of your industry. We work with a variety of different sectors, from large warehouses to educational institutions, meaning we have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to understanding a wide range of industries.
  • Reviewing your existing procedures - Here we will deep dive into your current health and safety policies, procedures and training programs. From here, we can examine what is causing any gaps in your health and safety management.
  • Identify points for improvement - Once we have looked at your current policies and procedures, we will then pinpoint the gaps and highlight opportunities for improvement.
    Hotels, B&Bs and apartments
  • Conduct a risk assessment - We will then conduct a full risk assessment and evaluate how these ‘gaps’ might impact employee and customer safety. Taking these gaps into account, we will prioritise the most high-risk hazards to address in your action plan.
    Animals premises and stables
  • Create actionable solutions - Once the gap analysis process is complete, we will create a practical roadmap to remove these gaps, update processes and help to improve employee knowledge on safety. Your report will include specific strategies to address each gap, as well as metrics on how to monitor success.

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What will a business receive after a Health and Safety Gap Analysis?


After we have completed a Health and Safety Gap Analysis, your business will receive a comprehensive assessment report that details your current health and safety status and our recommendations for becoming compliant with the relevant standards.

We will also provide you with practical and actionable steps to address any areas which you are not compliant with, as well as a clear list of areas where your current procedures do actually meet the relevant legislation.

When should a Health and Safety Gap Analysis be carried out?


Ideally, a Health and Safety Gap Analysis should be carried out at least once a year to ensure your organisation remains compliant with legislation.

We also recommend conducting a gap analysis whenever there has been significant changes to your company, including new equipment being installed, new processes being put in place or recent legislation updates.

It is highly recommended to conduct a gap analysis if there has been any recent accidents at your business premises, such as injuries or deaths that could have been prevented by the appropriate health and safety procedures being in place. 


Why a Health and Safety Gap Analysis is essential for businesses


A Health and Safety Gap Analysis is essential for businesses as it provides a comprehensive overview of the current safety practices and outlines areas where they fall short.

The safety of your employees, visitors and any other person on your premises should be one of your main priorities as a business owner. By conducting a gap analysis, you can have peace of mind by knowing which areas of your health and safety procedures need to be improved.

Some of the benefits of a Health and Safety Gap Analysis include:

  • Proactively address potential risks
  • Minimise accidents
  • Improve employee wellbeing
  • Protect yourself against legal action should an accident occur
  • Enhance business reputation 
  • Encourages regular monitoring of policies and procedures


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