Over the past 25 years, I have investigated a wide range of accidents and incidents, some of which have subsequently resulted in liability claims against the organisations involved. What many managers and business owners don't fully appreciate is that, in most personal injury cases, an injured person has up to three years to bring a claim. By the time that claim arrives, the workplace may look very different. Employees and managers may have moved on, memories have faded, buildings may have been refurbished, layouts changed, equipment replaced, and vital records can be increasingly difficult to locate. That is why [...]

Why Every Business Needs Assurance — Not Just Compliance Because having a policy and knowing it works are two very different things. Most businesses don't set out to become complicated. They become complicated gradually. More employees. More customers. More suppliers. More systems. More policies. More responsibilities. Before long, a relatively simple business can have dozens of processes and controls keeping it running. Which raises an important question: How do you know they're actually working? That's where business assurance comes in. Compliance Isn't the Same as Assurance Compliance asks: Are we meeting the requirements that apply to us? Assurance asks: Are [...]

From the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act to the risks of 2026 — how far have we really come? There are dates that fundamentally change the way we think about work. 1974 was one of them. More than half a century ago, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 created the foundation for the health and safety system we recognise in Great Britain today. Its importance wasn't simply that it introduced another piece of legislation. It represented a fundamental change in thinking. Instead of attempting to prescribe a rule for every workplace, activity and hazard, the [...]

Why Every Near Miss Is an Opportunity, Not Just a Close Call When something almost goes wrong, it's easy to breathe a sigh of relief and move on. After all, nobody was injured. Nothing was damaged. Work continued as planned. But that approach misses one of the most valuable opportunities an organisation will ever receive. A near miss is not simply a lucky escape. It is a warning. Every serious accident is preceded by warning signs. The difference between a near miss and a major incident is often nothing more than timing, circumstance or luck. The organisations that learn from [...]

Publication: Monster Risk Insights™Reading Time: 6 Minutes We often hear the terms "operational risk" and "health & safety" used interchangeably. They're not the same. Health and safety is a critical component of operational risk, but it represents only one part of a much bigger picture. The organisations that consistently perform well understand this distinction. Rather than treating operational risk as a compliance exercise, they view it as a strategic discipline that supports better decision-making, stronger performance and greater organisational resilience. What is Operational Risk? Operational risk is the possibility that people, processes, systems or external events prevent an organisation from [...]

"Sometimes the simplest answers are the ones we've forgotten to ask." As health and safety professionals, we spend our careers discussing legislation, risk assessments, investigations and compliance. But recently I decided to ask a different expert. My 11-year-old daughter. I asked her ten simple questions about risk, safety and decision-making. The answers were honest, funny, surprisingly insightful and, in some cases, more profound than I expected. Here they are. 1. What does the word "risk" mean to you? "Something is not safe. Danger." Monster Insight Sometimes we overcomplicate risk. To an 11-year-old, risk simply means something isn't safe. Perhaps that's [...]

Every investigation begins with a question. What happened? Too often, the answer ends with two words: Human error. Case closed. But is it really? At Monster Risk, we believe that calling something "human error" is often the beginning of an investigation—not the end. Because if we stop at blaming the individual, we miss the opportunity to understand the system that allowed the error to occur. The Iceberg Effect Imagine an iceberg. Above the surface is what everyone can see: Human Error It's visible, obvious and easy to point to. But beneath the surface lies the much larger story. Questions such as: [...]

Stress isn't always obvious. It rarely arrives overnight. Instead, it builds gradually. A missed lunch break. Working late. Skipping holidays. Poor sleep. Feeling constantly overwhelmed. Losing motivation. Becoming irritable. Many people convince themselves they're "just busy." But prolonged workplace stress can affect concentration, decision-making, relationships, productivity and, ultimately, safety. Why should employers care? Stress isn't just a personal issue. It can lead to: Increased accidents and near misses Poor decision making Reduced productivity Higher sickness absence Increased staff turnover Lower morale Burnout Every organisation has a responsibility to create an environment where people feel able to speak up before stress [...]