Introduction
A Health & Safety Policy is intended to document how you will manage health and safety risks, as well as confirm your commitment to relevant legislation. It is mandatory for a company with over five employees to have a written policy.
As with other company policies, a Health & Safety Policy should include an action plan on how your team can ensure the policy is adhered to; making it clear who is responsible. It can also form part of your evidence in achieving OHSAS 18001 Certification.
Legal Responsibilities
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has a website with information on legal responsibilities, which include:
Take out Employer's Liability Insurance (compulsory).
Appoint a competent person.
Provide basic welfare facilities.
Provide free health and safety training and supervision.
Consult your workers.
Display the health and safety law poster.
Understand RIDDOR reporting procedures.
Keep up-to-date.
To see your full list of responsibilities with an explanation of each, visit HSE's webpage on 'Things you must do'. You can also use the HSE website to find legislation relevant to your industry.
You may also wish to integrate Fire Safety into your Health & Safety Policy. You can find out more on your responsibilities by visiting the Fire Gateway website.
Policy Content
As with most policies, there should be a succinct introductory statement of intent, including reference to the broad responsibilities of both the organisation's management and those of employees.
Responsibilities
Once the statement of intent is complete, the next section should be on Responsibilities, covering:
Who is responsible for the policy.
Who is responsible for health and safety.
Specific responsibilities.
Who will implement actions.
Who is responsible for training.
How the policy is monitored.
It's management's responsibility to make employees aware of the Health & Safety Policy and its implications. This may necessitate simple instruction or training depending on the size and type of organisation you are.
Management must inspect and maintain all machinery, ensuring any sites open to the public or visitors are also well maintained. All insurances and certificates (such as fire safety) should also be arranged.
The section should also outline responsibilities of all employees. These would include:
Co-operation with all health and safety matters.
Taking personal responsibility for health and safety.
The reporting of related concerns to the person responsible for health and safety.
Procedures
Before formalising your health and safety procedures, you should undertake a thorough risk assessment. Depending on your organisation's activities, your procedures may include:
Plant and Equipment.
Equipment areas.
Hazardous substances.
Noise control.
Dust control.
Fire safety.
Medical facilities.
Emergencies.
Getting Started
You can use the HSE's template for a simple Health & Safety Policy whilst below there are links to a range of organisations' Health & Safety Policies to help you get started.
> British Airways Health & Safety Policy
> EDF Energy Health & Safety Policy
> National Express Health & Safety Policy
> Vodafone Health & Safety Policy
Policy Monitoring
Monitoring is something that should be set out in the policy. There should be both short and long-term objectives resulting from the creation of policy, so ensure timescales are set to review them.
The person responsible for health and safety within the organisation should keep track of work related causes of sick absence, any incidents and investigations on how to prevent a reoccurrence.
It's beneficial to organise office walkabouts to monitor any health and safety risks. This will provide an opportunity to check that employees are working in accordance to the agreed rules. By involving employees in this, it's more likely they will adhere to them.
Don't forget that you have a legal duty to consult with your employees on matters affecting their safety in the workplace. You must bring the statement of intent section of your policy to their attention and where they can read more. You can do this by incorporating health and safety issues into inductions, producing a company handbook, or posting it on your intranet.
It would be good practice to keep on top of compliance and legal requirements; which could be reviewed formally at management meetings. The HSE website also has free e-bulletins to help keep you updated.
To gain OHSAS 18001 Certification , it's mandatory to monitor the relevance and effectiveness of your Health & Safety Policy, so by developing your own, you could be well on your way to achieving independent certification!
The British Assessment Bureau's reputation was established in 1969 and we achieved pre-eminent status in 1997. Today we are a revered UKAS accredited Assessment Body with an enviable reputation for customer service.
As well as providing certification to internationally recognised standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, we provide bespoke assessment services for people, services and organisations of all sizes.
For more information visit www.british-assessment.co.uk.
