Managing health and safety

Have you got health and safety under control?

Managing health and safety is little different from managing any other aspect of your business. You need to do a risk assessment to find out about the risks in your workplace, put sensible measures in place to control them, and make sure they stay controlled.

A risk assessment is nothing more than a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people. Risk assessment should be a practical exercise, aimed at getting the right controls in place – keep it simple and put the results into practice. Page 31 of this leaflet gives you step­by­step guidance on how to assess health and safety risks with a minimum of fuss.

Your health and safety policy clearly sets out how you manage health and safety in your workplace by defining who does what; and when and how they do it. On pages 20­30 of this leaflet is an example of a health and safety policy statement that you can fill in and keep at your workplace. Remember, keep it simple and actually put it into practice.

Does this concern me?

■ Did you know all employers and self­employed people have to assess risks at work?

■ Did you know employers with five or more employees should have a written health and safety policy?

■ Did you know employers with five or more employees have to record the significant findings of their risk assessment?

■ Did you know employers have a duty to involve their employees or their employees’ safety representatives on health and safety matters?

■ Did you know employers have to provide free health and safety training or protective equipment for employees where it is needed?

What law applies?

■ Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (risk assessment)

■ Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996

■ Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977

3 reasons To Manage Health and Safety in the Work Place