Health & Safety Policies and Statements

Every organisation should have a clear policy for the management of health & safety so that everybody is aware of the aims and objectives. A good health and safety policy should enhance awareness within the organisation in order for it to be fully effective.

There are a number of legal requirements that must be considered when preparing a policy. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASAW) states that if you have more than 4 employees it is a requirement to have a written health and safety policy including the organisation and arrangements to carry it out and to bring the statement and any revision of it to the notice of the employees.

It is important to note that if your organisation consists of less than 4 employees you are still required to have a Health & Safety Policy but it does not need to be written down but you must show that it has been verbally communicated to all employees.

A Health & Safety Policy should include the following sections

A health and safety policy statement which includes the health and safety aims and objectives of the organisation
A health and safety organisational structure detailing the people with health and safety responsibilities and their duties
The health and safety arrangements in place in terms of systems and procedures

Policy Statement

The policy statement should include the aims and objectives of the organisation. (Aims – are not measurable, Objectives – which are measurable) When reviewing your policy your aims will tend to remain the same where as the objectives may be changed depending on circumstances within the organisation.

This part of the policy should be brief and bullet points should be used so that it is clear and easily understandable. This part of the policy should be signed and dated by the most senior person within the organisation; this will also indicate how often the policy is reviewed. In large companies it may be necessary to have separate policies with an overarching statement that covers the whole organisation.

The following points should be considered when drafting your Health & Safety policy

the aims should cover health and safety, welfare and relevant environmental issues
the position of the senior person in the organisation or company who is responsible for health and safety
the names of the Health & Safety Adviser and any safety representatives
a commitment to the basic requirements of the Health & Safety at Work Act (access, egress, risk assessments, safe plant and systems of work, use, handling, transport and handling of articles and substances, information, training and supervision)
a commitment to the additional requirements of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regs (risk assessment, emergency procedures, health surveillance and employment of competent persons)
duties towards the wider general public and others (contracters, customers, students etc.)
the principal hazards in the organisations
specific policies of the organisation (e.g. smoking policy, violence to staff etc.)
a commitment to employee consultation possibly using a safety committee or a plant council
duties of employees (particularly those defined in the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regs 1999)
specific targets for the immediate and long term future.

The Policy statement should be posted on prominent notice boards throughout the workplace and brought to the attention of all employees at induction.

Organisation of Health & Safety

This section should define names, positions and duties of those within the organisation that have a responsibility for health & safety. This will include:

managers (eg. directors, works managers, human resource managers and supervisors)
specialists (eg. health & safety adviser, occupational nurse, first aiders, fire officer, chemical analyst and electrician) Smaller companies may use consulatnats to fill some of these postions.
employee representatives

For the organisation of Health & safety to work successfully it is is important to have top level support i.e. board level and also to have finanacial resources made available to you. Certain key features should be included in to the Health & Safety of the organisation, these include:

accident investigation
health and safety training and information
health and safety monitoring and audit
health surveillance
monitoring of plant equipment and its maintenance
liaison with external agencies
management and/or employee safety committees – the management committee will monitor day to day problems and any concerns of the employee health & safety committee.

Job Descriptions should be issued clearly defining the duties of each person in the health and safety organisational structure so that overlaps or ‘grey areas’ do not occur.

Arrangements for Health & Safety

This section should detail the means of which the policy statement should be carried out, this will include rules and procedures and the provision of facilities such as a first aid room and wash rooms. It is common for risk assessments to be included in this section.

It is important to note that arrangements for fire and other emergencies and for information, instruction, training and supervision are also covered. Local codes of practice if applicable should also be included i.e. forklift drivers.

The following list covers the common items normally included in the arrangements section of the Health & Safety Policy.

employee health & safety code of practice
accident and illness reporting and investigation procedure
emergency procedures, first aid
electrical equipment (maintenance & testing)
control of hazardous substances, manual handling, PPE
machinery safety (including safe systems of work), lifting and pressure equipment
permit to work procedures
health and safety inspection and audit procedures
procedures for contracters and visitors
catering and food hygiene procedures
terms of reference and constitution of the safety committee

Review of Heath & Safety Policy

Your health & safety policy should be reviewed and monitored on a regular basis. A positive promotion of health & safety performance will achieve far more than simply prevent accidents, it will:

support the overall development of personnel
improve communication and consultation throughout the organisation
minimise financial losses due to accidents and ill health and other incidents
directly involve senior managers in all levels of the organisation
improve supervision, particularly for young persons and those on occupational training courses
improve production processes
improve the public image of the company

Remember when you sign up to our health & safety manager package we will work with you to create your own tailor made health & safety policy, for more info click here

Health & Safety Policy Checklist

The following gives you points that you should include in your policy, please note this list is not exhaustive.

General Policy & Organisation

Does the statement express a commitment to health and safety and are your obligations towards your employees made clear?
Does it say which senior manager is responsible for seeing that it is implemented and for keeping it under review, and how this will be done?
Is it signed and dated by you or a partner or senior director?
Have the views of managers and supervisors, safety rep’s and of the safety committee been taken into account?
Were the duties set out in the statement discussed with the people concerned in advance and accepted by them and do they understand how their performance is to be assessed and what resources they have at their disposal

Does it state who is responsible for the following area’s?

Reporting investigations and recording accidents
Fire precautions, fire drill, evacuation procedures
First aid
Safety inspections
The training programme
Ensuring that legal requirements are met, i.e. notifying accidents to the health & safety inspector

Other Hazards

- Noise problems – wearing of hearing protection and control of noise at source
- Preventing unnecessary or unauthorised entry into hazardous areas
- lifting of heavy or awkward loads
- protecting the safety of employees against assault when handling or transporting the employers money or valuables

Emergencies

Ensuring the fire exits are marked, unlocked and free from obstruction
Maintenance and testing of fire fighting equipment, fire drills, and evacuation procedures

Communication

Giving your employee's information about the general duties under the Health & Safety at Work Act and specific legal requirements relating to their work.

Training

Training employees, supervisors and managers to enable them to work safely and to carry out their health and safety responsibilities effectively

Supervising

Supervising employees so far as necessary for their safety – especially young workers, new employees and employees carrying out unfamiliar tasks