Ensuring legal requirements are met. Is management solely responsible for providing a healthy and safe working environment? Is employer's concern for health and safety as great as concern for economic financial and marketing matters? Does it include the names of individual managers who are responsible for making the safety policy work in specific areas or departments?
Does it state the employer's duty to give education and training in health and safety to all employees? Does it outline the development and maintenance of health and safety roles and procedures?
Does it include planned programs for health and safety at work? Does it ensure that health and safety matters will be taken into account when planning new methods processes or premises? Does it include arrangements for disclosing information, including multilingual information, on health and safety and well-being matters? Does it explain how money is to be made available to support health and safety? Do all employees have copies of their employer's health and safety policy?
Are workplace representatives consulted about periodic revisions and updating of the employer's health and safety policy? Has the policy been reviewed with the health and safety committee? Does it state who will review the policy and how often it will be reviewed?
Are there effective arrangements for drawing the policy to the attention of all employees? Is the delegation of duties logical and successive throughout the organization? Is it clear that the ultimate responsibility for safety rests with senior management? Are the responsibilities of senior managers written into the policy or into job descriptions?
Are there procedures and controls in place that ensure accountability? Is health and safety performance an essential ingredient of performance appraisals? Do line managers understand and accept the nature of their health and safety responsibilities? Are there arrangements for liaison with contractors? Are all individuals aware of their legal responsibilities? Responsibilities of Individuals Individuals have a responsibility to carry out their assigned duties.
Employees Carry out work in a manner so as not to create a health and safety hazard to yourself or others. Participate in education and training. Assist in the reduction and controlling of incident and illness producing conditions.
Report any incidents, near misses, injuries, or illnesses. Use the correct tools and equipment for the job. Keep tools and personal protective equipment in good condition or replace when necessary. Use the required safety equipment and personal protective equipment.
Report defects in workplace equipment. Develop a personal concern for health and safety -- for yourself and for others, particularly newcomers and young people. Suggest ways to eliminate hazards or control risk. Read, understand, and comply with workplace health and safety policy, safe work practices and procedures. Co-operate with health and safety committee members and representatives.
Participate in medical surveillance e. Record and analyze information on injuries, illness, damage, and production loss. Assess incident trends and review overall safety performances. Maintain contact with professional bodies e. A business can never guarantee the absolute safety of its staff, but it can do everything in its power to ensure the very lowest risk.
This all begins with a strong health and safety policy. Learn more about the best-practice approach to people management with The Randstad Human Resource Guide. This site uses cookies. Click here for more information. By continuing to use the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Act HSWA Your policy must also be written down if you have five or more employees.
If you have fewer than five employees, you can communicate your policy verbally, which is an exception that comes from the Employers Health and Safety Policy Statements Exception Regulations However, it is always advisable to have a documented policy.
That way, you can provide evidence that you have met your legal duty, and it will show your commitment to health and safety management within your business. A written policy can also be useful when making and tracking any changes.
You must ensure that your employees and their representatives are made aware of the policy and any revisions. Whether these are included, will depend on how your risks could affect others and to what extent. Employers must ensure that they have appropriate arrangements in place to control health and safety risks. A written policy is also part of this duty. For the health and safety policy to be successfully implemented, an effective management system is necessary.
It is at your discretion whether you want to go down the formal management system route. There should at least be a health and safety manual containing the policy and associated procedures, rules and processes. You may even choose to integrate your policy and systems with other areas, such as environmental and quality. If enforcement authorities, such as the HSE or Local Authority, visit your premises, they will likely ask to see your health and safety policy.
If you do not have a policy, or if it is inadequate for your business, you could face enforcement action and prosecution. You can also access our article that provides further insight into occupational health and safety. Writing a health and safety policy may seem like a daunting task, but it is not too difficult once you know the structure and the content that is required.
It does not have to be complicated, overly lengthy or time-consuming. The important thing is to make your policy specific to your business and its operations. Some employers have been known to copy and paste their policy from other sources, which is unacceptable and is likely to be non-compliant with the law. Your policy must reflect what you do. It is also vital that leadership is involved with the policy. There have been many instances of health and safety practitioners or consultants writing the policy, and then it is just signed by the person at the top without any involvement whatsoever.
Enforcement authorities are putting more emphasis on health and safety leadership from the top of the business. There is no specific requirement for the policy to be of a certain size, and there are no rules for how it should be set out, but it should be proportionate to the nature of your business and its risks. Download our word document health and safety policy template.
Download our PDF health and safety policy template. A health and safety policy should start with a statement of intent, which is also known as the health and safety policy statement. This part of the policy should contain a statement of your commitment to meeting legal requirements and health and safety management. This section must not be confused with the health and safety policy. It is part of the policy, but it is not the policy by itself. Unfortunately, some businesses produce a statement of intent and think that it is complete.
Although the statement is of vital importance, there is much more to a health and safety policy. The statement of intent must be signed and dated by the most senior person in the business. In smaller businesses, it is usually the managing director MD , and in larger ones, it is often the chief executive officer CEO.
Having the most senior person sign the policy will demonstrate your commitment and will give authority to the document. This part of the policy should detail the names, positions and duties of those who have specific responsibilities for health and safety within the business.
The above are examples and are not exhaustive. Therefore, their responsibilities should be included in this section. A blank template is also provided to help you complete your policy:. Please note that these links are to the original legislation, visitors should verify for themselves whether legislation is in force or whether it has been amended or repealed by subsequent legislation. Health and safety policy Topics: Making health and safety work for your business.
Do I need a health and safety policy? How do I develop a health and safety policy? Your health and safety policy should have three parts, as explained below: Part 1 - Statement of intent In your statement you should list your company's aims for health and safety.
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