The IOSH Helpline and the dedicated IOSH Legal Line are two benefits that could prove invaluable.
IOSH members are aware that being part of IOSH provides many great benefits, not least the magazine that lands on your desk every other month. But while the magazine is a benefit in material form, there are other less physical assets that IOSH can provide.
Two of the most underused facilities that IOSH provides are potentially two of the most useful: the IOSH Helpline and the IOSH Legal Line. Here we look at how these valuable resources could help to make your professional lives just a little easier.
The IOSH Helpline
We spoke to Wendy Payne and Andrew Smith from the IOSH Helpline to find out more about how it operates and what it can do to help.
What is the Helpline?
‘The IOSH Helpline is a support service offered by IOSH free of charge. It provides expert advice on a variety of issues,’ Wendy says.
‘The Helpline team consists of health and safety consultants, including a former health and safety officer from the manufacturing industry, and GB Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Infoline employees. All the team are qualified to diploma level and have other health and safety qualifications in areas such as construction, fire, environmental and food safety. All team members are also members of IOSH, including some who have achieved Chartered status.’
What does the Helpline provide?
‘We can provide free advice regarding a range of topics, mainly health and safety but also fire safety, environmental, food safety and legislation, both national and international. We can also locate statistics, case law, and research on a range of subjects,’ Wendy says.
‘We pride ourselves on responding to calls and emails in a timely manner. Not only do we operate between 8am and 6pm in the office, but we also have an out-of-hours phone, which the team operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.’
What are the most common queries?
‘The most common questions we are asked are about the interpretation of RIDDOR [Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013], as these decisions often require a degree of interpretation,’ Andrew says.
‘As you would expect, over the last two years, questions relating to COVID-19 have been very common. These have been a little more difficult than most other queries due to the requirements and recommendations changing quite frequently as the nature of the pandemic itself has changed, and the fact that requirements often differed between countries.’
What’s the most memorable query you’ve ever handled?
‘I think one of the most memorable queries that the Helpline has ever received was whether badgers can catch Legionnaires’ disease!’ Andrew says.
‘As you would probably expect, there wasn’t a great deal of information on this topic. But it appears very unlikely since there are extremely few diagnosed cases of this disease in animals of any kind.’
To call the IOSH Helpline call: +44 (0)116 257 3199
Working on the Helpline
We asked Wendy and Andrew what it is like to work on the IOSH Helpline.
Wendy: ‘I’ve worked for the Helpline for 16 years and I thoroughly enjoy the different enquiries that come our way. We’ve also built up a rapport with some of our members – we know who some of them are before they even provide their numbers and names. It’s very rewarding when we receive lovely feedback from members.’
Andrew: ‘I find working for the Helpline to be very rewarding, both in terms of the help and reassurance that we are able to provide to our enquirers and, personally, I never know what the day will bring, due to the varied nature of the questions we are asked. That means that at times I’m also able to learn something new myself, while in the process of helping others.’
The IOSH Legal Line
Beverley Bates, advice services director of Markel Law LLP, the provider of IOSH’s Legal Line, explains how this dedicated specialist advice resource, which is included as part of an IOSH subscription and accessible through the IOSH Helpline, can benefit members.
What is the IOSH Legal Line and what can it do for IOSH members?
The service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and the advice is provided by our team of 50-plus qualified solicitors and tax advisers (tax or VAT experts are available during normal office hours). Advice can be sought on a wide range of matters affecting the running of your business. This could relate to employment matters, contract issues, debt collection, property matters or taxation concerns and much more.
All our calls are recorded and we call the enquirer back to avoid them incurring a telephone charge. Access to the advice line is unlimited and you can contact us as many times as is necessary. We can also provide templates and guidance documents when they are needed. Our satisfaction ratings are very high, with over 95% of our customers rating us as good or excellent.’
What kind of expertise does the Legal Line draw upon?
Markel can trace its history in this area back to the early 1980s. In that time we have handled millions of calls from a wide range of businesses including sole traders, SMEs, and right up to firms with hundreds of employees.’
Are there any common queries that you receive?
The Legal Line handles a wide variety of queries, although with two-thirds of them relating to employment matters, typical queries include disciplinary action, grievances, incapacity, employment tribunal claims and procedures, contracts of employment, capability, redundancy and resignation, to name but a few. Additionally, common queries for our commercial team include landlord and tenant queries, contract issues, debt collection and data protection issues.
What can IOSH members use it for?
We provide telephone legal and tax advice related to business in the UK. While we will look to help on all occasions, there may be specialist area of advice where it would be more appropriate for members to appoint a solicitor rather than use a telephone helpline. Even in these limited situations, we will look to provide initial advice to assist the member.
What is the most memorable or trickiest query you’ve ever handled?
There are too many to choose from! However, one of the most memorable was an employment query from a car garage where 12 members of staff were ‘caught’ after they climbed into a customer’s mini and then took pictures. We were able to help with disciplinary and training for the staff, as well as how to deal with any issues arising from the customer, who had recognised their car on social media!
To call the IOSH Legal Line contact the IOSH Helpline and ask for legal support: +44 (0)116 257 3199
Helping us, helping you
The IOSH Helpline doesn’t only act as a great help to the members who call it; it’s also hugely important to IOSH as an organisation. Ryan Exley, IOSH content developer explains why.
‘The IOSH Helpline is a magnificent tool for our members and non-members alike, but it’s also a great tool for IOSH too, because it helps us to support our membership, build member competence, and build engagement and stronger relationships with our members,’ Ryan says.
‘The Helpline helps us to understand what support OSH practitioners require and to look for solutions that best provide that support. Capturing each query allows IOSH to analyse trends, such as a certain specific issue coming up three times a month, for example, standards of fire doors.
'It can also identify trends that are much broader, such as Construction Design Management (CDM) issues cropping up numerous times over numerous months. IOSH can then use this data to flag areas that our members need more information on, in turn informing what content we produce and in what format.
‘When the pandemic struck, we quickly created content to assist the OSH profession. As the weeks and months went by, guidance and regulations changed, and we used the queries from the Helpline to really home in on what our members needed and wanted to see.
'We produced webinars to discuss the impact of, and solutions to COVID with other OSH professionals, and we created a COVID hub where members could go to find practical guidance on how to apply and interpret the laws within business.
‘Of course, not all queries can be answered by the Helpline. But if the Helpline cannot research and answer the call within 30 minutes, or if the person calling requests an IOSH opinion/position on an OSH issue, some queries are then elevated to a select group of OSH professionals within IOSH,’ Ryan says.
‘It’s impossible for everybody to know everything. But rather than searching the internet for hours to find what you need, the IOSH Helpline is there to quickly help you with support. The team are friendly, very knowledgeable and here to assist you when you require them. It would be silly not to use their expertise!’
