What is a Health and Safety Policy?

What Is A Health And Safety Policy?

Most organisations should have a clear policy for the management of Health and safety and the control of risk. It is a legal requirement to have a written one if you have 5 or more employees! A good Health and safety policy will highlight how an organisation will achieve this and reach safety goals that their management system aims to achieve. Both the Health and safety policy and management system will complement policies in areas such as Quality, the Environment and Human Resources. As for those areas, for the Health and Safety policy and associated management system to be successful, it must have realistic achievable goals and sufficient resources and involvement at all levels of management within the organisation.

The Health and Safety policy is a requirement from the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASWA) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR). For a policy to be effective it must be supported by management and communicated throughout all levels of an organisation. Evidence suggests that a considered policy will contribute to business efficiency and continual improvement throughout an organisation. It will also assist with financial loss due to a reduction in accidents and incidents and will reinforce management commitment to employee safety which could result in higher productivity and job satisfaction.

A good Health and Safety policy will ensure that a systematic approach to risk assessment and sufficient resources in terms of time, effort and money to protect the health and safety and welfare of the workforce. The policy can also support quality programmes which are aimed at continual improvement. The policy should state the intentions of the business with clear aims, objectives, arrangements, organisation and achieveable targets for all health and safety issues.

Legal Duties concerning a Health and safety Policy

Section 2(3) of the Health and safety at Work Act and the Employers’ Health and Safety Policy Statements Regulations 1975 require employers who have 5 or more employees, to have a written policy which is regularly reviewed and sufficient organisation and arrangements are in place to ensure that the policy and any amendments is available to all employees. The number of employees relates to the maximum number at any one time including part-time, full time or seasonal. Where an organisation has 4 employees there is still a requirement to have a policy, but it is not required to be a written document.

The legal duty was introduced for the first time by the introduction of the HASAWA 1974 and is reliant on self-regulation to improve health and safety standards. A good health and safety policy will involve development, monitoring and review of these standards required to identify and reduce the risks to health and safety by an organisation.

The law requires a written policy should include the following:

A health and safety statement of intent which includes aims and objectives of an organisation. These aims are generally achievable, and when achieved this will feed into the continuous improvement of a management system.

Health and safety organisation which details the people who have specific responsibilities and their duties. Most people within an organisation will not have any specific responsibilities, however everyone should rad and understand the health and safety policy statement which will have the aims and objectives within it.

Health and safety arrangements in that are in place in terms of procedures and systems. All safety procedures and arrangements must be included.

The Management of Health and Safety Regulations also require an employer to have arrangements for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of preventative and protective measures, regarding their business activities. These arrangements must be recorded where there are five or more employees. If an inspector from the HSE or Local Authority visits you, then it is likely that they will request to see the health and safety policy to gauge the commitment and attitude to health and safety.

Key features and content of an effective Health and Safety policy

A Health and safety policy statement of intent is often called the health and safety policy statement or, incorrectly the health and safety policy. It will contain the aims and objectives of the organisation. Aims usually remain unchanged during revisions, however objectives will be reviewed and modified each year. the statement should be written in clear and simple language that is understood by all members of the organisation. the policy will be signed and dated by the most senior person within the organisation which will offer authority and demonstrate management commitment to the policy. The policy statement must be communicated to everyone within the organisation and the senior person should include information relating to:

Key functions of health and safety management in areas of monitoring and audit, accident investigation and training.

The senior member of the organisation must ensure that adequate resources are made available to manage health and safety effectively and that the production of health and safety arrangements are in place regarding rules and procedures.

The arrangements for the welfare of employees must also be included.

A regular review and as required updating of the health and safety policy.

Organisation of health and safety

This section of the policy will provide information on the names, roles and duties of those within the organisation who have specific responsibility for health and safety. It will identify the responsibilities and reporting lines through the management chain such as directors and senior managers, supervisors, health and safety advisers and other specialists, employees, fire marshals and first aiders. For some small organisation some of these specialist roles a contractor may be employed on the organisations behalf.

It is important that certain key functions are included within teh organisation structure such as:

Accident investigation and reporting procedures.

Health and safety training and information.

Health and saefty monitoring and audit.

Health surveillance must also be included as required.

Monitoring of plant and equipment, maintenance and risk assessment.

Liasion with external agencies as required.

Management and employee safety committees monitoring of day-to-day problems and concerns relating to health and safety.

Arrangements for health and safety

This section of the policy will give details of the specific systems and procedures that are used to implement the policy statement. this will include rules and procedures and the provision of facilities such as wash rooms and first aid rooms. It is accepted that risk assessments be included in the arrangements section, particularly for hazards referred to in the policy statement. The arrangements for fire and other emergencies and for information, Instruction, Training and supervision (IITS) are also included. The following is a of more common items normally included in teh arrangements section of the health and safety policy.

• Employee health and safety code of practice.
• Accident and illness reporting and investigation procedures.
• Emergency procedures.
• Fire drill procedure.
• Risk assessment procedure.
• Safe systems of work.
• Electrical and other equipment maintenance and testing procedures.
• Monitoring procedures including audits and inspections.
• Control of contractors procedure.
• Provision of welfare facilities.
• training arrangement and procedures.
• Any catering and food hygiene procedures.
• How the organisation will consult with employees.
• Waste disposal procedures.
• Safety committee constitution.

Review of health and safety policy

It is important that the policy is monitored and reviewed at regular intervals. It is recommend to benchmark the organisation against national standards of the industry. The HSE publish an annual report, statistics and provide a bulletin which may be used to assist with this.

Here are some reasons to reinforce why we should review the policy:

• Some significant organisational changes may have taken place.
• Changes in key personnel.
• Changes in legislation.
• New methods of work.
• Alterations to work processors and arrangements.
• Changes following consultation with employees.
• Monitoring provides information that suggests risk assessment or other safety procedure is no longer affective at controlling risk.
• Advice from insurance company or specialist.
• Findings from health and safety audits.
• Enforcement action has been taken against the organisation by the HSE or local authority.
• A significant period of time has elapsed since the previous review.

We hope that you have found this information useful, if you require any further information, advice or require a consultant please contact us – thank you. www.aegisassociates.co.uk

Further Reading

If you are looking for publications and information from the HSE then look no further they can found all in one place here.