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Safety Policies
If you employ more than 4 people, by law you must prepare a written Safety Policy (The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974).
A Safety Policy describes what steps a company should take to ensure that it meets its health and safety duties. More importantly, drawing up a Safety Policy will help you organise your health and safety at work and consequently comply with the law.
How to structure the Policy
The basic structure of the Safety Policy is laid down in the Health and Safety at Work Act. It consists of 3 main parts:
1. General Statement of Intent
This is where an employer makes his broad commitment to health and safety.
The person(s) in overall charge of the company should accept ultimate responsibility for health and safety matters.
The statement should be signed and dated by the person accepting responsibility for the company.
Wording of the general statement is up to you, since it's your commitment and your company.
2. Organisation
Essentially, this amounts to a list of health and safety responsibilities held by people in the company (i.e. people and their duties).
This section contains details of who is responsible to whom and for what.
Most health and safety responsibilities will be assigned when the next part of the Policy (Arrangements) is written.
Where appropriate, provide instructions on how to meet specific responsibilities. These instructions could be detailed in the Arrangements section of the policy.
3. Arrangements
This part details the systems and procedures in place which will enable the company to meet its stated aims and objectives. In other words, what the company needs to do on an operational basis to comply with the law and stop people being injured by the Company's activities.
In short, they will tend to revolve around three main areas:
Legal Requirements: The specific health and safety laws and regulations which apply to your premises and line of work.
Hazards and Risks: Details of the hazards associated with your business activity and the risks of injury connected with those hazards.
Control Methods: In practical terms, how you go about eliminating or reducing those risks to acceptable levels. This is where you state what steps are being taken to achieve day-today control over health and safety.
Detailed Guidance is included in:
'An Introduction to Health and Safety' published by the Health and Safety Executive
Some Key Points
The most important thing is that the Safety Policy is an operational document. In particular:
- It should set out what practical steps the company is taking to effectively control health and safety.
- Managers and Staff should be able to refer to the Safety Policy and find out what health and safety responsibilities they hold and exactly how they are expected to meet those responsibilities.
- If other documents contain specific details on any relevant area of the Safety Policy, they should be accurately referred to and readily available.
- Relevant sections of Safety Policy (or documents specifically referred to) should be used as part of staff training so that the right information is being told to the right people. DO NOT just give the Safety Policy to employees and expect them to read and understand it.