A Day in the Life of a Health & Safety Manager
He served in the Army for eight years and made it to final table of a poker tournament in Las Vegas on his first attempt, but of course most importantly for us, Brett Mann is the Group Environmental, Health & Safety and Quality Manager for Power Electrics and the man behind our recent RoSPA award success.
Brett was kind enough to invite me to our Southampton depot for the day to experience a day in the life of our resident Health & Safety superhero – here’s how it went.
Leading Ladder Safety Awareness Training
I arrive at the depot and Brett is conducting training for two members of staff. Brett takes us through a presentation on Ladder Safety Awareness (I later found out this was the first time he had conducted this particular session, so he handled the pressure of my note and photo taking very well!).
It’s quickly apparent that there’s a lot more to safely using a ladder than I thought, and what seems like a simple task actually requires lots of care and attention. We have all sat through presentations where not much of the information actually hits home, but Brett can’t let that happen when the topic is Health & Safety, so he ensures that the training he conducts is engaging. He uses his wealth of experience to draw from real examples during each section of the presentation.
In addition to carefully explaining how to work safely, Brett makes sure to outline the serious consequences of non-compliance, both on an individual level and to an entire organisation.
“If it feels unsafe then it probably is”, concludes Brett as he hands out a short theory test. It's outstanding passes all round and he types up the certificates right away. I grab the camera and my PPE to check out some Crane Familiarisation Training in the warehouse.
Overseeing Crane Familiarisation Training
Brett explains that the main purpose of overseeing this session is to ensure that transport staff stay confident, competent and safe as they move from using different machines, due to subtle but critical differences in controls.
I've managed to watch this process a few times since joining and I'm still massively intimated by the idea of lifting a multi-tonne generator on and off the back of a lorry, so I can really see the value of familiarisation courses like this one.
Conducting Environmental Impact Assessments
We head back to the office where Brett takes a call from a Sales Director, who asks him to visit a customer and conduct a site risk assessment for a potential large scale project.
On site Brett explains to the customer that a significant part of the visit is assessing the potential environmental impact of integrating a generator on site. My very safe time in Southampton is nearly over, so that's my cue to give Brett a break from my questions and head home.
Brett represents Power Electrics’ most important policies internally to over 200 employees and externally to customers and partners. It’s a huge responsibility that he takes on with real pride, so it was great to see him in action.
Cheers Brett!
