New system is a safe bet

But after some gentle persuasion and three months under an electronic regime, he is converted.

‘I was a dinosaur until this was put to me by my team,’ he confesses. ‘I had to be convinced. But how could I say I wanted to move things on and then refuse to look at doing things differently?’

PC Harrington is using a safety, health and environmental risk management system called Business Risc which its insurance company Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance is providing free.

‘Originally the idea was to help smaller businesses,’ says Mitsui risk engineering manager James Wooldridge. ‘But when we looked at it we realised that companies such as PC Harrington, which already had a sophisticated risk management system in place, could use Business Risc to switch to an electronic system.’

So will this mean lower premiums?

‘If firms have good risk management procedures in place, they will have a better claims history,’ says Wooldridge. ‘And if you have a better claims history, you pay less for your premium.’

PC Harrington accesses Business Risc via the internet and uses it to hold the latest version of all relevant documentation, including the company safety policy, environmental policy, generic method statements and risk assessments.

Faulds’ team can file reports and minutes immediately on site, so that he can find out what’s going on where at any one point and it can flag up when inspections or reports are due.

Bidding for work is easier too. ‘When I pre-tender for jobs I get asked for our safety management system. Now all I give my prospective clients is a 10-day password,’ says Faulds.

The theory is that by removing a whole raft of administrative work from his team, there will be more time to spend on improving safety, although it’s too early to say that yet, says Faulds.