A Health and Safety policy is an essential document in your business system. Health & Safety Policies will help keep your business legally compliant and indicate a commitment you have to prevent employees from coming to harm.
What is a Health and Safety policy?
A Health and Safety policy is a set of ideas or "a plan" to help protect your employees and staff from harm in the workplace. It is a "vision" of how you as an employer will manage Health and Safety for your organisation.
Policies will vary according to the nature and size of the business. They should clearly outline who does what, when and how in relation to Health & Safety procedures for your workplace.
Do I need a Health & Safety policy?
As a UK based business, you are required by the law to have a policy for managing Health and Safety in your working environment. This requirement is part of the employers general duties towards their employees - (Act. HSWA) Health and Safety at Work 1974.
If your organisation has 5 or more employees this policy should be written down, if you have fewer than 5 employees it is not a requirement for a written copy but good practice to do so.
A guide to writing a Health and Safety policy
Health & Safety policy may vary depending on the business environment and size. At their core, they can be broken down into three sections;
Section 1—Statement of Intent
The first step in creating your policy should be a statement of intent. This statement should indicate how you will manage health and safety within your organisation. You can use simple language to describe the aims for Health & Safety within your organisation.
The business owner, or a senior employee in the businesses must sign the document. Ideally this should be someone who will manage health and safety for your organisation. It is advisable that you or the person you have selected are up to date with the latest legslation and safety protocols, and review the policy frequently on behalf of your organisation.
You should display your Statement of Intent where all employees can read it, eg: a staff notice board or via electronic computer programs. You may also need to make visitors, contractors and others in your organisations environment aware.
Section 2—Responsibilities for Health and Safety
An important part of your policy is detailing your employees responsibilities. This can be done by listing the names, positions and roles of the people responsible for Health & Safety protocols. An example may be "Who is in charge of reporting and investigating an accident". "Who is responsible for checking the Fire extinguishers are within date" etc.
Section 3—Show arrangements for Health and Safety
This section gives the details of specific systems or procedures that you have place to achieve your policy goals. This part of the policy will be tailored to your specific business activities and explain in some detail how you control risk and will react to situations.
Below are some of the arrangements that you may consider when drafting this section;
- List Specific Hazards
- Risk assessment
- Safe systems of work
- Accident, incident, near miss and illness reporting
- Occupational Health
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Information, instruction and supervision
- Training and Competence
- Emergency procedures, such as Fire Evacuations and First Aid
The arrangements section should also include information about how you intend to reduce the risks that you have identified. You may also want to include additional arrangements in your policy to further minimise the risks at your business. These additional measures can include things like:
- Staff Training
- Using clearly marked Safety Signs to inform and instruct, eg: Safety Signs Warning Signs & Hazard Signs
- Efficient safety equipment, such as guards or additional personal protective equipment, including PPE safety equipment like goggles, safety boots or high-visibility clothing
- Finding less harmful alternatives
- Improved lighting
- Anti-slip flooring
Other considerations
It is important to remember that if legal authorities visit your business premises they will require you to produce your health and safety plan.
A Health & Safety policy should be regularly reviewed and monitored. There is no "defined period" for how often this should take place, but will need reviewing more regularly if there are significant changes in the business.
So well worth taking the time to write a policy today! Stay legally compliant and keep your organisations Health and Safety performance on track.
Useful Links
Here are some useful links to further information around Health and Safety.
