If you have 5 or more permanent staff then you have a legal requirement to produce and implement a comprehensive Health and Safety policy document under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Not only this but you are obliged to bring this document and policy to the attention of your entire workforce with regular and appropriate updates and revisions

It is simpler than you think and we are happy to give free advice.

Health and safety legislation is extremely far reaching. Certainly it is relevant to manufacturing and to businesses dealing with hazardous materials.

However it is equally as applicable to general health in the workplace which over the last few years has been of increasing significance.

Your Health and Safety policy document will need to deal with a wide variety of potential issues and daily situations. You will need to consider the avoidance of repetitive strain injury, posture, tidy workspace, eyesight and stress related issues let alone the commonplace issues of fire, water, electrics and so on.

The KEY thing to remember here and indeed across all aspects of Health and Safety is that the burden of proof lies with you as an employer. Yes the employee has certain levels of responsibility but in essence should anything happen you will need to prove that you did not contribute to or exacerbate any issue your staff may have and the purpose of the guidance issued by the Health and Safety Executive and the advice and help we provide is to help you do just that.

It is simpler than you think and we are happy to give free advice.

If you employ 5 or more staff then you are legally required to produce and implement a comprehensive Health and Safety policy document and when your company is inspected, as at some point it will be, you will be asked to produce it.

Big companies are likely to have far more complex health and safety requirements which is one very good reason that you should build health and safety into the growth and development of your business.

The cost of Health and safety is negligible - possibly even profit making if it is effectively built into the structure and running of your company. So this should be addressed sooner rather than later both because it is an inevitable part of business life but also because the sooner it is dealt with the less it will cost.

It is simpler than you think and we are happy to give free advice.

The same can be said of any preventative measures from business and personal insurance to machinery maintenance - even a trip to the dentist…

We all recognise that we should have insurance and we all understand the implications of putting off the dentist! Dealing with health and safety in the workplace is no different. If it isn’t dealt with at some point in time it will come back and bite you. When something goes wrong and Health and Safety in your workplace has not been dealt with you will be found wanting. You will be subject to fine or worse. You are legally required to address this…

If Health and Safety is integrated into your business as an inherent part of your day to day processes then the implications of dealing with it are neither time consuming nor expensive. If it is left until something does go wrong then time and expense are inevitable, and possibly the least of your worries.

Furthermore, if built into your daily working practices an appropriate, simple and practicable Health and Safety policy should benefit your company, make your staff more profitable and the running of your company more efficient.

It is simpler than you think and we are happy to give free advice.

If only that were true - I am afraid it isn’t...

The Government has clear directives in terms of the level of inspection of all companies to which this law applies.

It is clearly stated that companies employing 5 or more staff should be expected once every 5 years.

However

For some companies this is very likely to be more either because of the hazardous nature of their business or because the council responsible for H&S inspections has specific inspection targets.

Councils may well focus on certain types of business because of accidents or complaints that might relate to certain specific problems or ailments. For example a rise in the instance of repetitive strain complainants or lower back pain issues may result in the council targeting all office based businesses likely to employ individuals to work at a desk all day.

You will be required to produce your Health and Safety Policy document and relevant DSE assessments

If you have any incidence of injury or disease at your workplace you will be inspected more frequently.

Some Councils have targets that require more frequent inspection than others.

Informal visits also do happen, perhaps as part of an inspectors training. Again should you not be able to show a viable Health and Safety policy document you will be found wanting.

Furthermore

Many insurance companies will now inspect premises and wish to see relevant Health and Safety documentation.

And even if they do not then in many instances any insurance that you have taken out will be invalidated because you do not have viable comprehensive Health and Safety policy documentation, fire risk assessments and so on in place.

The Bottom Line

If you have a successful business then at some point you will be inspected and you will have to produce viable, appropriate, implemented and monitored Health and Safety policy procedures!

It is simpler than you think and we are happy to give free advice.

Really you cannot afford not to...

In order to have an appropriate and suitable Health and Safety policy in place you are required by law to have competent individuals implementing this policy. It is not good enough to give someone a clipboard and a high visibility vest. Competance needs to be proven through training and or certification and can either be in-house or through the outseorced provision of recognised “assistance”.

By far the most cost effective and efficient way of beginning the process is to get the right sort of help, what sort of help you may need in the long run and whether that means outsourcing or in-house training is a question that can then be addressed.

Dont put it off any further – get some free advice.

In many respects the happiness and well being of your staff is completely irrelevant if that happiness and well being could, through your non-compliance of Health and Safety law, be ended.

You are required by law to have an appropriate and suitable Health and Safety procedures in place and to this extent the burden of proof lies with you.

Happy staff are great until something occurs and if you cannot clearly show that you have complied with your legal requirements in respect to your obligations under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act then fault will lie with you.

It is simpler than you think and we are happy to give free advice.

As we all know in respect to any unpleasant job - the longer you leave it the worse it gets!

The adage of “don’t put off til tomorrow that which can be done today” could have been coined for Health and Safety.

The obligations and requirements of Health and Safety law and the effect of implementing these through your business processes grows and develops as your business grows. So leaving it will only increase the disruption to your business and the inevitable cost both in terms of doing what is required and any short term negative impact this may have on business efficiency.

It is simpler than you think and we are happy to give free advice.