Workplace Health and Safety

People often confuse the terms 'risk' and 'hazard'.

A hazard is something which has the potential to cause harm, such as a piece of machinery or a toxic chemical. If used or handled incorrectly, these things could cause injury or illness.

A risk is the likelihood of harm occurring as a result of a particular hazard. As long as hazardous materials or equipment are used in accordance with the correct safety procedures, the risks they present will be minimised.

Hazards are a feature of every workplace, and often cannot be eliminated in themselves. Carrying out a risk assessment, and putting suitable safety measures and procedures in place, however, can help to ensure that the risks posed by any hazards are diminished.

As an employer, if you're not fully aware of the risks that exist in your workplace, you are potentially endangering your own health, and that of your employees, clients and customers.

Employers have a duty to identify all workplace activities that could cause harm, and evaluate whether they are fulfilling their legal obligations to protect workers from any risks that arise from these activities.

The objective should always be to limit the risks as much as is 'reasonably practicable' - that means employers have to strike a balance between the cost of mitigating a risk and the seriousness of the risk in question. Cost, in this context, refers to both the financial expense and the time, effort and resources involved.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992

The Display Screen Equipment Regulations 1992

What is it?

A health & safety policy should outline a company's approach to managing health and safety risks and articulate a commitment to following relevant legislation.

Do I need one?

All companies with 5 or more employees are legally required to have a written health and safety policy.

What should it look like?

A health and safety policy should open with a brief preliminary statement of intent, which broadly summaries the responsibilities of the organisation and its employees.

This should be followed by a 'Responsibilities' section. This will cover:

- The person/people responsible for the policy
- The person/people responsible for health and safety
- What specific responsibilities have been assigned
- Who will put procedures in place
- Who will handle training
- How the policy will be monitored

Employees' obligations, such as cooperating with health and safety procedures, reporting concerns, and taking personal responsibility for working safely, should also be broken down in this section.

Other sections might include Procedures, Equipment, Hazardous Materials, Noise, Dust, Medical Facilities and Emergencies. Fire safety procedures can also be integrated into the health and safety policy.

You can download the HSE's basic Health and Safety Policy template here.

Once risk assessments have been carried out and a health and safety policy has been written, it's important for management to approach all aspects of health and safety with the same respect as the rest of the workforce.

Are you undermining your company's health and safety policy?