What was the main reason why your company needed outside H&S help?

Being an advisory body in amateur theatre, we had no one in the company that was specialised in H&S. NODA has approximately 1900 society members, each Amateur dramatic society has 20-100 participants – we want to make sure our members can run productions safely.

It made sense therefore to collaborate with experts that had actually worked in theatre, film and drama – That’s where HSM came in, they have consultants that have worked in this industry – a perfect fit!

 

How did HSM ‘jump in’ and grasp your issues?

HSM brought together “NODA Safe” a practical, health & safety toolkit that societies can follow. This resource and set of fact-sheets, is on our members-only website and is downloaded a lot! Our members often comment that this resource is easy to follow and in thankfully written in plain English.

We also provide, via HSM, a direct line which is a way for our members to get their specific health & safety questions answered, fast. Often it’s just a single issue that a member will want clarification on.

 

Share an extract of how you engage with HSM ongoing? 

Our goal with H&S is to allow our members to focus on the drama rather than H&S – so the clear, downloadable guides in the “NODA Safe” really do help societies effectively and swiftly ensure they are covering all H&S bases.

The guidance that HSM give covers things like: Safe use of ladders, working at heights, GDPR, how to perform fire risk assessments, fire warden, designing a first aide policy, and performance venue risk assessments.

This all helps our members create productions that are safe, as well as successful. Our members find they can grasp the responsibilities of H&S swifter than trying to work it out themselves.

If you were recommending HSM to a contemporary: What aspect would you highlight about HSM ?

The team at HSM have a vast knowledge and industry understanding – this is critical and of particular importance if our members contact HSM direct: they can be sure that they are given the best-of-class compliance information, and appropriate industry specific guidance.

Anything else that you’d like to share!?

The way that HSM work with NODA and our members really does deliver on the H&S front. The phone line for H&S questions and the “NODA Safe” resources centre are a great pairing for our members. This means they can focus on their purpose of making great amateur drama!

Neil Maidman, Director & HSM says:

“Building industry appropriate H&S toolkits and packages is at the core of how we work. Although sectors have some similarities, we never apply one-size fits all and bring in industry specific expertise to ensure you have crystal clear H&S policies and procedures and this case, support for their members”