SME

If you are a hairdresser, or you run a hair salon, then you have probably noticed a rise in the cost of hairdresser insurance over the past few years.

In this post we will take a closer look at the issue, exploring some of the underlying causes and outlining how you can best protect yourself, and your customers, as a hairdresser.

How Much Is the Cost of Hairdresser Insurance Rising?

The cost of public liability insurance for hairdressers has almost doubled over a period of two years. In 2023, hairdressers were paying, on average, £47 a year for a public liability policy. By 2025, they were paying £93 for an annual policy. This means that the cost of cover increased by almost 100%.

In the same period, public liability insurance for hair salons decreased slightly, from an average of £230 a year in 2023, to £201 a year in 2025.

Do I Need Public Liability Insurance as a Hairdresser?

Public liability insurance is essential for hairdressers and salon owners. This will cover your customers, along with other members of the public, for any accidents or injuries that may happen as a result of your work, whether that is in a salon or elsewhere.

If a customer injures themselves on your premises, or if you cause an accident on your customer’s property, they may make a claim against you. In this case, your public liability insurance would cover your legal fees, along with any compensation payments that may arise.

What Is Causing The Rise in Hairdresser Insurance?

The Impact of Inflation
The rising cost of hairdresser insurance can largely be attributed to inflation, which has increased insurance costs for all businesses. The hair and beauty sector may have seen a higher rate of claims in recent years too, which will have contributed to rising premiums.

However, there is another important underlying cause at play.

The increasing prevalence of independent and freelance hairdressers
Independent hairdressers may work from their own premises, or they may rent a chair in a salon. Some may even do home visits. This creates a lot of potential for accidents and injuries: Slips, trips, and falls in a salon; spilled hair products in a client’s home; unattended hair straighteners leading to a fire; and so on.

Growing numbers of independent hairdressers means insurers may have to consider a much broader range of risks and, potentially, more frequent and costly insurance claims. This, unfortunately, will drive up the cost of cover for all hairdressers and salon owners.

How to Keep Yourself and Your Clients Safe

Effective risk management is vital for keeping you, your customers, and your premises safe, and comprehensive hairdresser insurance is an essential part of this.

Many businesses are currently struggling with rising costs, and increased insurance premiums certainly will not be helping.

Do Not Go Without Public Liability Insurance
However, no hairdresser or salon owner should go without public liability insurance. Accidents happen, and if they do, your liability insurance will help you meet all costs. Without this cover, you would be liable to meet these considerable expenses yourself.

Compare Quotes or Use an Independent Broker
If you are worried about the rising cost of cover, there may be some ways you can make savings. Be sure to compare quotes from multiple providers to ensure you are getting the best deal. Some insurers will also provide a discount if you get a combined policy, rather than a number of separate policies.

Working with a dedicated insurance broker can also make a huge difference. At James Hallam, we have helped hundreds of hairdressers and salon owners across the UK get the specialist insurance they need at a truly competitive price.

Find out how we can help you today.

If you are a professional photographer, you will need dedicated insurance to cover you, and your customers, for the specific risks associated with your role.

In this post we will outline the key forms of cover for photographers, including some forms of cover that you may be required to get by law.

What Insurance Do Photographers Need?

There are a number of risks which photographers and videographers face due to the nature of their job. As a result, photographers should consider the following types of insurance as essential:

• Equipment insurance
• Employer’s liability insurance (legally required for employers)
• Public liability insurance
• Professional indemnity insurance

We’ll explore each of these to look at what they cover and what it means to you and your photography business.

Photography Equipment Insurance

Equipment insurance, which may be referred to as contents insurance, will cover your expensive equipment for loss, damage, or theft. This can include your camera, lenses, lights, laptop, smartphone, development equipment, and whatever else you use as part of your role.

If any of this equipment is lost, damaged, or stolen, your insurance can cover you for repairs or replacements.

Employer’s Liability Insurance

If you hire any staff, then you have a legal obligation to get employer’s liability insurance. This will cover your staff for any accidents or injuries they may experience while working for you.

You need employer’s liability insurance even if you only hire a single temporary assistant for a few hours a week. And you even need this form of cover if friends occasionally help you out.

Public Liability Insurance

This will cover members of the public for any accidents or injuries that may occur while you are working. If a member of the public makes a claim against you, then your public liability insurance can cover your legal fees, along with any compensation payments that may arise.

Here are some situations where your public liability insurance would provide essential cover:

• While photographing a wedding, a guest trips and falls over a loose wire, or one of your bags.
• While visiting a client’s home or premises for a shoot, you accidentally damage their property, such as through spilling a cup of coffee on their carpet.
• A client, contractor, delivery person, or other member of the public slips, trips, or falls while visiting your photography studio.

Professional Indemnity Insurance for Photographers

This can cover you for claims involving negligence, breach of contract or trust, or defamation.  Depending on the sort of photography work you do, professional indemnity insurance may prove invaluable:

• If you are a product or a fashion photographer, your client may not be satisfied with your work. They may make a claim against you, alleging that your work did not meet the terms of your contract.
• If you are a photojournalist, the subject of one of your photos may feel that your work does not paint them in the most flattering light. As a result, they may make a claim of defamation against you.
• If you are an event photographer, someone may allege that you took their picture without their consent. This could result in a claim of breach of confidentiality or trust.

In each case, your professional indemnity insurance would cover your legal fees along with any compensation that may arise as a result of a claim.

Get Dedicated Photographer Insurance From James Hallam

At James Hallam, we are proud to support the photographic industry sector through our sponsorship of:

• The British Institute of Professional Photographers
• The Association of Photographers
• The Master Photographers Association

We understand your unique insurance requirements, and you can count on us to get the specialist cover you need at a competitive price.

Learn more about our specialist photographer insurance services.

The UK’s commercial motor industry has been dealing with a driver shortage for some years now.

In this post we will take a look at the current state of the UK’s HGV driver shortage, before exploring how this might affect risk management in haulage firms. We will then discuss some strategies for managing a driver shortage in your business.

The Current State of the HGV Driver Shortage

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) recently released figures suggesting that the UK may have lost over 117,000 qualified drivers over the past 12 months.

This figure is based on the number of driver qualification cards (DQCs) that have lapsed in this period. And the RHA has pointed out that the data shows that many drivers in their 30s and 40s have left the workforce, not just retirees.

The RHA also mentioned that their figures are “supported by anecdotal evidence”, with numerous fleets reporting that they are struggling with driver shortages.

How Can Driver Shortages Affect Haulage Risk Management?

When there is a general shortage of drivers, any existing drivers will face increased pressure, which can cause a range of issues for haulage fleets.

Increased risks of accidents
This could increase the risks of accidents as a result of:

• More pressure on drivers which can increase driver stress and fatigue, as they may feel the need to work longer shifts so as to meet demanding deadlines.
• Regulatory issues, as drivers may feel compelled to exceed their drivers’ hours.
• Recruitment of younger drivers. As they are less experienced on the road, younger drivers may be more likely to be involved in accidents.
• Encouragment of older and retired drivers to return to the workforce. This too could affect your risk management, as older drivers may have slower reaction times than younger drivers, or they may have certain medical conditions that could affect their abilities to safely operate HGVs.

Increased staff loss
Overstretched drivers may even choose to leave the workforce if the job becomes too demanding, which will make a bad situation even worse.

Increased insurance costs
To cope with a driver shortage, we can see that fleets will often recruit , the more you may have to pay for your haulage fleet insurance.

How to Address the Driver Shortage in Your Business

• Recruitment and Training – Outreach programs, apprenticeships, and internships can help you attract the next generation of HGV drivers. Invest in extensive and ongoing training for all new and existing drivers to ensure that every driver in your fleet meets all necessary road safety standards.
• Driver Wellbeing – Prioritising driver wellbeing can make recruitment easier, while also helping to reduce staff turnover. Introduce initiatives to help your drivers manage stress and burnout, which can contribute to effective risk management. Creating a culture of open communication between drivers and managers can make a huge difference to driver wellbeing, while also helping to improve your overall operational efficiency.
• Invest in Technology – Advanced telematic and fleet management systems can help you plan more efficient routes and rotas, while also giving you real-time insights into driver behaviour. You can minimise downtime and ensure that no driver ever feels the strain. And if you ever spot any potential issues with any drivers, vehicles, or routes, you can take action as soon as possible.

Get Dedicated Haulage Insurance From James Hallam

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of experienced insurance professionals who care about protecting your fleet and your drivers.

We can help you with effective haulage risk management through getting you a comprehensive haulage insurance package that can cover your business at a competitive price.

Find out how we can help you today.

Between 2021 and 2024, the average energy prices for UK businesses increased by over 90%. Prices fell a little towards the end of 2024, but they were still 75% higher than they had been at the start of 2021.

In this post we will explore some ways that businesses can save energy over winter, a period when short days and low temperatures have traditionally forced businesses to increase their energy usage.

Conduct an Energy Audit

To begin with, conduct a thorough energy audit for your business. This involves assessing how much energy each process consumes. Doing this may help you identify some areas where you can reduce your energy consumption.

As part of this, you might review your energy bills from previous years. This could help you pinpoint the key days or weeks in which your business was using the most energy. And if you have not done so already, you could invest in a smart meter, which could provide more immediate insights into how much energy your business is using at any given time.

Quick and Easy Ways to Reduce Business Energy Use

There are many “quick wins” that could help you make significant savings on your business’s energy use over the winter:

• Replace as many lights as possible with efficient LEDs.
• Use motion sensors in corridors, bathrooms, and other areas with comparatively low footfall, to save you from having to light them at all times.
• Ensure that all windows and doors are kept closed when the heating is on. If you cannot afford to get new insulated windows and doors, you can reduce the amount of heat that escapes with curtains and draft excluders.
• If you have a thermostat, do not place it in an area where the heat might fluctuate. Keep it away from anywhere there might be a draft, and do not place it near any machinery that could generate heat. This will prevent the heating from coming on when it is not needed.

Get Your Staff Onboard with Saving Energy

Your staff can actively support you in helping to cut your energy costs, so long as you communicate just what you are trying to achieve, and why.

Ways to encourage staff to help save energy and reduce bills:

• Appoint an energy efficiency champion, who is in charge of looking for ways to reduce energy consumption, and for getting other staff involved.
• Try to make it a competition, with incentives for reducing energy consumption, rather than reprimands for wasting energy.
• Use signs and posters to encourage staff to save energy wherever possible. For example, you could put small stickers next to light switches in bathrooms or storage rooms to remind staff to turn out the lights before they leave the room.

Do I Have to Put the Heating on In the Workplace?

The HSE specify that you should maintain a minimum temperature of 16°C in the workplace, or 13°C in environments where staff may carry out physically demanding work. You can read their full guidelines on workplace temperature.

This means that you do not necessarily have a legal duty to keep the heating on round the clock. However, you should still aim to keep your staff as comfortable as possible when they are at work. Intentionally keep your workplace cold during the winter and the result will be unhappy or uncomfortable employees. This could result in some costly mistakes, and it could even increase your staff turnover.

But if you want to save energy over winter, you could encourage your staff to wear additional layers on the colder days, and to only turn the heating on as a last resort. And wherever possible, you could encourage your staff to work from home. This might be a win-win situation for you and your staff: They could avoid a tiresome commute on a cold and dark winter morning, while you might be able to make savings on heating the workplace.

Ways to Save Money on Business Energy Use in the Long-Term

Above we mentioned how a smart meter could help you review your energy use through providing more accurate insights into how much energy your business is using at any given time. A smart meter could also lead to more accurate energy bills, as rather than paying for your estimated usage, you will only ever pay for the energy you use.

Often, utility companies will offer additional discounts if you set up a Direct Debit to spread the cost of your bills.

In the long-term, you could look to invest in additional insulation for your business. You could also aim to replace your systems, equipment, and machinery, including your boiler, with more energy efficient models.

Finally, if you want to save money on business expenses, you could review your business insurance package.

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of experienced insurance professionals who care about protecting your business. Talk to us and we can help you ensure you are getting the cover you need at the best possible price.

Find out how we can help you save money today.

If you are a manufacturer and you inadvertently produce some defective products, then you have certain legal responsibilities in how you respond to the issue.

In this post we will explain your legal responsibilities when it comes to defective products, and discuss the role that insurance can play in helping you fix the issue.

Legal Responsibilities as a Manufacturer of Defective Products

Under The Consumer Protection Act 1987, manufacturers are liable for any harm caused by faulty or defective goods. Under this legislation, manufacturers would be held legally responsible for any losses or damages arising from faults or defects, regardless of whether you were originally at fault.

It is against the law to sell defective products in the UK. As a result, suppliers and retailers may also face claims of negligence in cases involving defective products. But in any case, the ultimate liability would always come down to the manufacturer.

When is a Product “Defective”?

A defective product is any product that does not function like it is meant to. We might also refer to products as “defective” when they have the potential to damage an individual’s property (e.g. if it carries unintended fire risks); or if they have the potential to cause illness, injury, or even death (e.g. if a food product accidentally contains traces of allergens or other harmful substances).

The defect might be found in the product’s design, or it might arise due to a manufacturing error. For instance, if a machine or a piece of equipment on your production line is not working like it should, the final product might not operate as expected.

The defect might also be found in the product’s packaging. It might contain misleading instructions, for example, or it might not properly warn of certain potential risks in using the product.

What Are The Penalties For Distributing Defective Products?

You will face severe legal, financial, and reputational consequences if you accidentally produce a defective product, and you fail to adequately respond:

• Legal action from customers, suppliers, and retailers.
• Fines from regulators.
• Personal injury claims and other legal action.
• Bad reviews and long-term damage to your brand’s reputation.

How Manufacturers Should Manage Defective Products

• Set clear terms and conditions. Outline exactly how you will manage returns, refunds, and repairs. This will help manage expectations which could ultimately help you avoid disputes.
• Respond quickly. You need to act as soon as you become aware of the defect, whether you notice it yourself, or you receive a complaint from a supplier, a retailer, or a customer. At this point it is important to collect evidence and keep records of all communications, as you may ultimately have to demonstrate how you managed the issue.
• Offer the correct response. Your exact legal responsibilities may differ depending on the particular situation you are facing. You need to follow the law when it comes to offering refunds, repairs, or replacements. For more information, check the Consumer Protection Act and the Sales of Goods Act.
• Review your quality controls. If you accidentally manufacture a defective item, you should thoroughly review your processes, including your quality control systems, to determine just how this defect came about. This will help you avoid producing any further defective items in the future.

Reducing Defects in Manufacturing

• Quality control is everything. You should implement robust quality control procedures at every step of the manufacturing process. These procedures should be capable of identifying errors as soon as they arise, so that you can address any potential issues immediately.
• Train your employees. Your employees should know how to spot any potential issues that could lead to defects, and they should know how to respond effectively.
• Set policies and procedures. You should know in advance exactly how you will respond to a defective product issue. Make sure you understand your legal requirements in responding to different types of defects, whether it is a harmless design flaw or a serious error that could potentially cause harm. The better you understand your legal responsibilities, the faster and more effectively you can act when you need to.

The Role of Insurance in Product Defects

Specialist manufacturing insurance can include product liability insurance. This can cover you for all the expenses that may arise should you manufacture a defective product, including product recall fees, the costs of notifying suppliers, retailers, and customers, and any potential legal fees or compensation payments that may follow.

Read our full guide to what manufacturing insurance can cover.

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of experienced insurance brokers. We are committed to protecting your manufacturing business, and we can help you ensure you are fully covered for all risks relating to defective products.

Find out how we can help you today. 

Shops across the UK lose millions to theft throughout the Christmas period. In this post, we will discuss how you can protect your shop against theft over the busy Christmas season.

Be sure to read our full guide to stopping shoplifters and preventing retail theft.

Is Shoplifting More Common Over Christmas?

Figures emerged in December 2024 revealing that more than 650 shoplifting offences a day had gone unsolved over the previous 12 months. This represented a 38% increase in the total number of unsolved shopping offences in the same period five years previously.

Why is Shoplifting More Common at Christmas?

Shoplifting offences may be more common over the festive period for a number of reasons:

• Increased footfall – During the busy Christmas shopping season, shops may experience higher footfall than they do at any other time of year. This chaos can provide a lot of cover for opportunistic shoplifters.
• Staffing issues – Existing staff may be more tired and stressed than usual. Temporary and seasonal staff may not have the training or the experience to identify and respond to shoplifting. And managerial staff may be too overstretched to provide any effective oversight.
• Stock issues – Shops tend to increase their stocks over Christmas, and it is common to see large quantities of valuable products left in locations where it might be easy for shoplifters to steal them without being noticed.

How To Protect Your Shop Against Theft Over Christmas

To begin with, conduct a thorough security audit to ensure there are no vulnerabilities that shoplifters might exploit:

• CCTV – Do you have full CCTV coverage of your entire shop floor? How often do you review your CCTV footage?
• Visibility – Can staff see the entire shop floor from the checkout? If there are any blindspots, could you use mirrors or rearrange shelves to improve line of sight and help staff keep tabs on customers?
• Signage – Could you increase the signage in the store to notify customers of your security procedures? A simple sign reading “CCTV in operation” could be enough to deter some thieves.
• Keeping products secure – Do you have secure locations for securing and displaying high value items? If you will be increasing your stock over Christmas, will you have the facilities to securely accommodate a greater volume of valuable products?

Staff Briefing and Scheduling

Inform Your Staff of the Risks
Make sure that every member of staff fully understands the increased risks of shoplifting over the festive period. This should extend to everyone, whether they are permanent or temporary, and whether they work on the shop floor or in the stockroom.

Increase Staff Numbers
When it comes to staff rotas, if possible, you should ensure that no member of staff ever works a shift by themselves. A single member of staff will not be able to monitor the entire shop floor. Plus, shoplifters often work in pairs, where one will distract your staff while the other lifts items out of sight. The more staff there are on duty, the harder shoplifters will find it to work unobserved.

Extra Security Staff
Many shops employ temporary staff over the Christmas period to cope with the increased footfall. To prevent shoplifting, you should consider adding additional security personnel to your workforce during the festive period. Identify in advance the days that are likely to be the busiest, and ensure that you have the greatest security presence on duty at peak times.

Consider Your Store Layout

If you will be decorating your shop for Christmas, make sure your decorations do not create any new blindspots that shoplifters could exploit.

Take care when displaying products on the shop floor. If you currently keep any high value items in locked cabinets, for example, you should continue to do so over Christmas. If you want to display greater quantities of high value items on the shop floor, you could display empty boxes which staff could exchange for the real thing at the point of sale.

Introduce New Policies Where Necessary

If you familiarise yourself with some common shoplifting techniques, it could help you to outline new policies to help you mitigate the risks.

Increased Self-Service Staff
For example, in stores with self-service checkouts, one technique is for shoplifters to scan a barcode of one item in order to pay a lower price for a considerably more expensive product. You could deter this behaviour with an increased staff presence at the self-service tills, along with mandatory bag and receipt checks before customers leave the store.

Large Bag Policies
Also, it is common for shoplifters to carry big bags, or to push large prams, into which they can easily drop items without notice. You could introduce a policy limiting, or even outright preventing, customers from bringing large bags or oversized prams into the store.

Communication and Enforcement of Policies
Whatever new policies you introduce, make sure you communicate them as clearly and early as possible to all customers, while making it clear just why you are enforcing such restrictions. Signage can help, as well as well-briefed security staff who could calmly and politely explain to customers why they are not allowed in the shop with larger bags.

Review Your Retail Business Insurance

Finally, as you approach the festive period it might be a good idea to review your retail business insurance, to ensure it will cover you for the increased risk of theft over Christmas. For example, if you intend to increase your stock levels over Christmas, you may have to raise your cover limits accordingly.

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of experienced insurance professionals who care about protecting your shop, over the Christmas period and beyond. We can help you get specialist retail shop insurance, which can help your business bounce back from any significant losses.

Find out how we can help your shop today.

If you are looking to buy a restaurant, in this post we will explore four important considerations that may help you make a good investment while avoiding certain costly mistakes.

Four key considerations we’ll be exploring are:

• Location
• Licensing
• Employees
• Financing

We’ll explore each of these in more detail below including what you need to be looking for and the questions you should be asking yourself.

Restaurant Location

There are three main approaches to buying a restaurant:

• Buying an existing restaurant, and taking over as the new owner
• Buying a vacant commercial property, and converting it into a restaurant
• Building a new restaurant from scratch on an empty plot of land

Whichever approach you take, location is one of the most important factors for your restaurant’s future success. When it comes to location, there are a number of questions you should ask yourself:

• Accessibility and footfall
  How will customers get to your restaurant? Is it on a busy high street with lots of footfall? And if not, is there any nearby parking, or public transport links?
• Location prices
  What are the property prices like in the area? You could make a saving by investing in an area with lower prices. But you might then get a lower footfall.
• Crime rates
  It is also worth researching the crime rates in the area. Open a restaurant in an area with high crime rates and you could deter many potential customers. You may also have to invest in extra security to deal with the increased risk of break-ins and theft.
• Local competition
  What is the local competition like? Will your restaurant be one of many, or will it be one of the few eating options in the area?

Licensing for Food Safety and Alcohol

You will need to register your restaurant with the local authority in the area at least 28 days before you start trading. As part of this, you will have to establish and document your food safety procedures. You will also have to provide allergen information, and follow all relevant labelling guidelines.

Read a full guide to registering your restaurant on this government page.

You will need to get a separate premises licence if you wish to serve alcohol at your restaurant. Some establishments choose to forego this step, and instead implement a “BYOB” policy, in which customers are free to bring and consume their own alcohol.

Employee Needs and Recruitment

You will of course need a team of employees to help you run your restaurant. The number of employees you need will depend on the size of the establishment.

If you are buying an existing restaurant and taking over as manager, then you may already have a team of employees in place. If not, you should consider your staffing requirements carefully.

You will likely need:

• Kitchen staff, including dishwashers
• Front of house staff, including waiters, bartenders, and hosts
• Management staff, if you do not intend to manage yourself
• If you want to offer delivery services, you may also want to appoint your own drivers

There are multiple avenues you can use to recruit staff. You can ask around your friends or family. You can place an ad on an online job listings site, such as Reed or Indeed, or a specialist hospitality site like Caterer or Restaurant Jobs UK. And you could even do things the old fashioned way, with an ad in a local paper.

If you need a trained workforce as soon as possible, you could also turn to a temping or recruitment agency.

Financing, Investment and Overheads

If you are thinking about opening a restaurant, it is likely that you will have already considered your finances. You know you will need a significant financial investment in order to open your restaurant. You also know you will need an additional sum to cover your overheads once you open: staff wages, stock orders, maintenance and repairs, utility costs, and so on.

But when it comes to finances, one thing you may not have considered is insurance. There are certain insurance products that you will be required to get, by law. For example, if you employ any staff, then you have a legal duty to get employer’s liability insurance. You may also need to get some form of buildings cover as part of your leasing arrangement.

Beyond this, there are a range of insurance products that will give you essential cover should anything go wrong. These include public and product liability insurance, contents insurance, and business interruption insurance.

Read our full guide to the many types of insurance a restaurant may need. We also have a guide to how much you might expect to pay for your restaurant insurance.

Get Specialist Restaurant Insurance From James Hallam

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with access to a hand-picked selection of A-rated insurance providers.

If you are looking to open a restaurant, we are here to help. Whether this is your first restaurant, or you are adding another establishment to an existing portfolio, we can help you get the specialist cover you need at a competitive price.

Get in touch for a free quote today.

If you own or manage a manufacturing business, then you are likely aware of how heavy on resources your operations can be. In this post, we will explore some ideas and strategies that may help you make your manufacturing business more sustainable.

Why Sustainability Matters in Manufacturing

Sustainability in manufacturing means moving to a cleaner, more efficient, and less wasteful model. There are a number of benefits to working towards sustainability:

• Reduce costs – Sustainable manufacturing processes generally use less energy while producing less waste. This can lead to lower running costs across your entire manufacturing operation.
• More efficient processes – Through reducing waste and inefficiency across your production line, sustainable manufacturing processes can lead to higher throughputs and outputs.
• Regulatory compliance – Investing in sustainability will help you stay in line with national and global sustainability regulations. The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), for example, will require manufacturing businesses across the world to report certain sustainability data. Investing in sustainability now will help to future proof your business, as you may not have to make too many major adjustments as the regulatory landscape evolves.
• Competitive advantage – One recent study found that 79% of consumers actively choose to work with businesses that make sustainability a priority. Investing in sustainability could help you attract and retain new clients and customers. Employees tend to prefer to work for sustainable companies too. Your sustainability efforts, then, could also help with your recruitment and staff retention.

Key Aims of Sustainable Manufacturing Practices

There are many aspects to a sustainable manufacturing strategy. These include:

• Reducing emissions and pollution levels.
• Reducing waste while investing in recycling.
• Prioritising efficiency and moving towards “lean” manufacturing procedures.

What is Lean Manufacturing?

Sustainable manufacturing is lean manufacturing. This means that every aspect of the operation has been optimised to maximise efficiency while reducing waste.

As an example of lean manufacturing in action, think about Toyota’s “just-in-time” production principles.

Previously, Toyota would manufacture every part and component they could possibly need, in bulk. With “just-in-time” production, though, they only made the parts that they really needed, and only when they really needed them. In this way, they managed to boost their output and their speed while also dramatically reducing waste.

Lean manufacturing can lead to improvements across your entire manufacturing business. For instance, it can lead to a happier and more productive workforce, as “lean” production lines tend to be cleaner, less cluttered, and generally more pleasant places to work.

Key Ideas and Strategies For Sustainable Manufacturing

• Perform a thorough audit of your operations
  Identify any sources of waste and inefficiency. Be sure to talk to your employees, too. They are sure to have some ideas on how certain processes might be improved.
• Audit your tools and equipment
  Older equipment might use more power to produce less. And when inspecting your machinery, you could identify certain sources of pollution, along with some quick fixes: Exhaust filters that need cleaning, air hoses that need sealing, heat that could be recovered and reused, and so on.
• Upgrade your raw materials
  Switch to recycled, biodegradable, plant-based, and low-impact alternatives wherever possible. Also consider whether any of your current “waste” could actually be recycled and reused, such as scrap metal, packaging, and paper.
• Think about circular economy practices
  What can you do to extend the life cycle of your products, or to make it easier for your clients and customers to dispose of or recycle your products? Solutions could include switching to sustainable packaging, and making your products easier to disassemble for reuse or recycling.
• Think About Your Partners and Suppliers
  Finally, as well as auditing your processes, equipment, stock, and materials, you should also audit the partners and suppliers you work with. In short, you should only partner with businesses that take sustainability as seriously as you do. The right suppliers and logistics firms, for instance, can help you reduce lead and delivery times while also cutting down on emissions.

Your commitment to sustainability can even extend to the professional services you work with, such as your insurer. And this is where we come in.

Specialist Manufacturers Insurance from a Broker Committed to Sustainability

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with access to a hand-picked selection of A-rated insurance providers. We can help you access specialist manufacturers insurance, and you can rest assured that we share your commitment to sustainability. You can read more about our environmental policy.

Find out how we can help you today.

If you are a warehouse manager, health and safety should be your priority. You have a duty of care to your staff, and a legal responsibility for keeping them safe. Yet even beyond this, any accidents and incidents in the warehouse will lead to costly delays with repercussions that could be felt across the entire organisation.

In this post we will highlight some major health and safety risks for warehouses, before listing the key areas of focus for a warehouse health and safety policy.

Health and Safety Risks For Warehouses

There are a number of major health and safety risks for warehouses, including:

• Employee injuries
• Fire and flood
• Theft
• Cyber risks

We’ll go through each of these in more detail to explore exactly what these risks are and how they can affect you and your employees.

Employee injuries

Warehouses may be among the most hazardous of all working environments.

Employees may slip, trip, or fall, or they may get injured by a falling object. Depending on what you store in your warehouse, there may be a risk of exposure to hazardous substances.

Also, without the proper training and equipment, they could even injure themselves while doing the daily tasks that their job requires – such as through spraining their back while lifting a heavy object.

And of course, many of the injury risks that exist for your employees will also exist for visiting clients, delivery drivers, contractors, and other members of the public.

Fire and Flood

Warehouses are full of flammable substances, including cardboard boxes, packing materials, and cleaning substances. This means that even a small outbreak of fire could quickly spread.

You should also be aware of the risks of flood. Even if your warehouse is not located near a body of water, a burst pipe could still do a lot of damage.

Theft

Thieves actively target warehouses, and a break-in could result in significant inventory losses. If your organisation or your clients experience financial losses as a result of a preventable theft, it could cause liability issues for you, as the warehouse manager.

Cyber Risks

Finally, all organisations are vulnerable to cyberattacks, and warehouses are no exception.

As a warehouse manager, you will have a lot of valuable data stored on your devices, and you may use dedicated warehouse management systems to keep everything running. Cybercriminals may actively target your warehouse, either to steal your valuable data outright, or to encrypt it as part of a ransomware attack. Or they may target your management system simply to cause some chaos.

A cyberattack of any size could result in severe disruption and serious losses across the whole organisation. And on top of this, you could experience significant reputational damages if a client’s data is leaked as a result of the attack.

Warehouse Health and Safety Policy Checklist

There are a number of key areas of focus to make an effective warehouse health and safety policy, including:

• Risk assessment
• Employee awareness and training
• Cleaning and decluttering
• Safe storage
• Flood preparedness
• Equipment audit

We’ll explore these in more detail, to look at what they entail and how to work through each of these steps.

Warehouse Risk Assessment

To begin with, you should perform a thorough risk assessment for your whole warehouse, and the surrounding areas to identify:

• All the things that could go wrong.
• Assess how likely it is that each incident will occur
• How costly each incident could potentially be

This risk assessment should form the basis of your warehouse health and safety policy. Once you have identified every possible risk that you, your employees, and other members of the public could face, you will have a good idea of the steps you should take to address these risks.

Employee Awareness and Training

Your next step is to ensure that every employee understands:

• The risks they may face in their work
• How they should protect themselves against these risks (such as with PPE)
• The actions they should take should anything ever go wrong (such as essential first aid and incident reporting procedures)

You should also invest in ongoing staff training. Every member of warehouse staff will likely receive induction training. But you could offer periodic refresher sessions to keep everyone updated.

The training should of course cover how employees can do their jobs without injuring themselves, which may include guidance on proper lifting techniques, or on how to safely use certain pieces of equipment. Some members of the team will likely need additional specialist training, such as your appointed first aiders, and your forklift drivers.

And of course, all members of staff should receive training in spotting and responding to cybersecurity risks.

Cleaning and Decluttering the Warehouse Environment

Simply endeavouring to keep the warehouse environment clean and decluttered could help prevent many slips, trips, and falls. Cleaning and decluttering are also vital for reducing the risk of fires, and of ensuring that any fire that breaks out can be safely contained without spreading.

There should be a policy to immediately clean any spillage, clutter, or mess. There should be no obstructions to any doorways, walkways, corridors, or pathways. Everywhere should be lit appropriately, and you should change any broken lights as soon as they are spotted.

Safe Storage

Implement a policy of never storing heavy objects on high shelves. This can help reduce the potential injuries from falling injuries, as well as any potential accidents as a result of lifting a heavy object too high.

Any potentially harmful substances should be stored, handled, and disposed of in accordance with all relevant guidelines. The warehouse environment should be well ventilated to prevent the spread of harmful vapours. And in the event of a spillage, it should be cleared up as soon as possible, by trained staff in line with the applicable HSE guidance.

If you store potentially hazardous substances, your warehouse health and safety policy should outline the evacuation procedure in the event of a spillage, along with the procedures for addressing potential medical emergencies.

Flood Preparedness

Consider your flood risks, and determine how you would respond to a flood outbreak to limit the potential water damage, and to keep everyone safe.

Depending on your location, flood risk management may involve keeping an eye on weather conditions and looking out for government weather warnings. Or it might be that your only risk of flood is from leaks and burst pipes, in which case all members of staff should know how to spot the early signs.

Equipment Audit

Do you have all of the right safety and security equipment to prevent or respond to potential hazards? This might include:

• Fire alarms, fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, fire doors, and smoke ventilation systems.
• CCTV, security alarms, security fences, and automatic floodlights.
• Equipment for safe lifting and handling, including forklifts and employee PPE.

You should regularly inspect all equipment for any faults, or any signs of wear and tear. You should also ensure that any perishable equipment is in code. If anything needs repairing or replacing, do so as soon as possible.

Reviewing Your Warehouse Health and Safety Policy

Your warehouse health and safety policy is not the sort of document that you can finish and then never think about again. Health and safety is an ongoing commitment, and as part of this you should regularly review your health and safety policy.

This means new risk assessments, to ensure that you are staying on top of all existing risks, and to help you keep abreast of any emerging risks. It also means ongoing staff training, and ongoing equipment inspections.

Specialist Warehouse Insurance From James Hallam

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with access to a hand-picked selection of A-rated insurance providers.

We can help you get specialist stock and warehouse insurance that can help to cover you and your employees for all the risks you face in your work, at a highly competitive price.

Find out how we can help you today.