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And to illustrate precisely what I mean, I am going to ask you to picture David Cameron if you will? Stay with me you'll end up either smiling or sighing

You've all no doubt heard in some way shape or form the term; 'Bonker-Conkers?'

This short phrase was thanks to a chap called Shaun Halfpenny, then headmaster of Cummersdale Primary School in Carlisle. Way back in 2004. What he managed in one short moment in his life was to initially make 'elf n safety a joke, for this is what SH managed to achieve, he joked and manufactured a situation which most of the UK press swooped on gloriously.

I'll not bore you with the full details (if you don't already know)...In brief Mr. 'Aitch' had a wonderful idea. He was sick and tired of filling in the endless Health and Safety Executive (HSE) paperwork accompanying his pupils' field trips (despite the fact this was for the well-being of pupils) and wanted to take a poke at the quango's red tape. He assembled a group of schoolchildren, asked them to don some laboratory goggles, and asked them to play conkers. He told the world's media that the goggles were a "sensible" step to protect children's eyes from pieces of flying chestnut.

It was some time later that he admitted it was a complete hoax. Sadly it was 'spun' almost identically by the media and hence the damage had been done.

Now of course we all know and trust that whatever a senior MP tells us is trueBut when DC decides to say: "I think we'd all concede that something has gone seriously wrong with the spirit of health and safety in the past decade. When children are made to wear goggles by their headteacher to play conkers

Fingers, legs, toes and any other area that will cross for you. Remember, deep breath before you go in and head held high, you know you'll do it

Mike

Anita

If I may? I personally think there are two sides to this particular coin. One is what works for you, what you can afford and if making a reasonable profit it makes sense to get some tax relief on the expenditure, for you it of course also includes how much can you cope with in terms of new business and precisely where anh how best to advertise.

I honestly do not feel there is an appropriate rule of thumb as say a percentage of your gross bottom line.

And the other side of said coin. Those that know will advise you to spend a set amount to guarantee exposure of your business. Some of these so called 'guru's (and they are out there) say they really care about you and want this that and tother for you, and in the initial start-up years you should plough as much as possible in to it. BUT...whilst I am no marketing expert it greatly depends on your business and again I feel there is no set percentage.

As an example. I started a small cleaning business in 1980 (my first redundancy) first year T/O (and that means nowt) was a hefty 6k with a pre-tax bottom line of around 3.5k.

In the second year I doubled and continued doubling every year right through to about (I need to look at the old books to be certain) 1991. By this time I had almost 200 employees and had branched well away from just cleaning to full support services. These of course were the good ol days when on-line advertising was only a dream. I used YP mostly, full page ads in several editions, it didn't so much generate a great deal but it maintained a presence for me and when I peaked at six-million pounds with a 25% pre-tax return I was delighted.

At the time of peaking and some say I peaked too soon (pack it in you smutty one's) my annual budget for advertising was around 35k per annum, take that against a PTBL of say one and a half million pounds and without calculating it I guess it was around 2.something % of PTBL profits.

Conversely (cor you've got me going now) My T/O with probably an 85% BL this first 12 months might even make a whopping great 25-40k (if I'm lucky). This business however whilst still service orientated needs advertising to get known. WoMR (word of mouth recommendations) will probably account for a large portion of business in three years time.

For you, why not allocate a figure you are happy with and see what develops. What I personally advocate, and it is just that, an opinion) is spend what you can within reason and don't borrow to advertise. That is of course without any real knowledge of what you do so some of this is very generic.

Am I competent to make suggestions of this calibre? Well I eventually made 3rd place in businessman of the year in 1993 (DTI through IiP) 10k prize with TV and Radio exposure (which was why I entered).

In case your wondering I split the company up in 99 and sold the lot. And no I managed around 7p on the

Safety so yes, this one interested me, especially as we have a Toyota Yaris Verso, ugly but one heck of a car, had three now, and the idiots stopped making them in 2006.

Get to the point Mike!

Ahh yes, sorry, I digressed.Well.....could this have been a conspiracy set up by another manufacturer using some amazing spin?

I like conspiracy theories.

Mike

Indeed, no regulatory control per se. having so said it is not only morally irresponsible to set up in practice and consider oneself an expert, it clearly carries an enormous risk regarding prosecution. poor or simply ignorant/bad advice that leads to an accident or fails to include suitable and sufficient control measures will almost certainly see the individual prosecuted either by the HSE or a LA enforcement inspector...with a myriad of regulations to cite. If one dont do it-another certainly will.

Funny you should mention PAT. There are actually no specific PAT regulations, not a one. However it is HSWA 74 that comes in to play along with PUWER, MHSW regs and the The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 that all place a duty on the RP to ensure that what is used is safe to do so.

I am frequently told that one must PAT every year/month/week (yep, true) & whilst there are guides it comes down to that other old chestnut, a risk assessment. Using power tools on-site in all weathers every day will probably be monthly or 3-monthly. An office printer or other portable appliance could be two-yearly, three or even five yearly depending on use. I have on many an occasion reduced a clients annual spend of PAT from what was initially disproportionate to suitable and perfectly sufficient.

This I suppose works with many areas of H&S, scare tactics by some will often mean a client is spending money of completely unnecessary projects.

To end for now I'll just mention one client who had been advised by a 'consultant' to produce some risk assessments to satisfy the inspector should he/she ever call...(sigh). They ended up with five-hundred. The best being a RA for a broom. It follows;
Identify who is at risk...Fred the sweeper upper.
Anyone else at risk.....Yes, anyone if he got a splinter and jumped out into the path of a FLT
Hazard....handle
Risk....getting splinters
Current control measures....strap up splintery handle with gaffer tape to protect user from splinters.
Consequences & Likelihood from a quantitative prospective..Oh this is good DEATH from blood poisoning

They had no idea what they needed to do. Clearly that one got screwed up and shredded along with around 475 others, leaving 25 quality assessments that would benefit those that they affected..not to satisfy an inspector if he called. By eliminating many of the so called control measures we were able to make the company not only safer, but far more profitable.

Oh the broom I hear you ask...how did I get round that handle then? Just bought a box of new handles for about a tenner for ol Fred and convinced them he didn't need any major training on how to change it.

Mike

Tis an old chestnut this one, but I feel a bit ranty this am, so what is a rant if not shared?

I posted some information in the welcome section so won't repeat that bit again. Other than to vent my spleen at my industry as a whole.

Many industries these days (quite rightly so) are fully regulated and place restraints on an individual or organisation before they can get started. here am I then looking after the lives of others, (far too many fatalities last year alone) and I can go and start off with not a qualification to my name...and convince organizations I can help their safety and health regime...and get paid as well.

Back in private practice I have examined my competition carefully and surprise-surprise, yes indeedy, they are out there.

Seven long years to become chartered with more qualifications than you can throw a stick at, twenty odd as experience and tons of knowledge in the ol grey matter; add to that I have to do CPD (continuing professional development) over a three year cycle to maintain by chartered status,, pay thousands for PI insurance ....oh you get my drift.

IOSH have made in-roads on our behalf to be regulated by whoopie-doo-dah, the wheels on the bus sure do turn slowly.

Anyway, rant over, I hear the phone ringing. Could it be those yellow people again telling me how much they want to help me succeed with a wonderful advert that will cost me thousands? There it stopped ) I didn't type quickly enough). Oh I have a message...you'll not believe it, it was who I said - telling me as an introductory offer I can have this and that and... well no, probably not the other.

Right time for a cuppa and give the fingers a break...oh and the eye-peeps, DSE regulations and all that

Chow fer now

Mike