Writing Your Safety Policy

How long is your Safety Policy?

I asked a company who was going to carry out some work for me to send over their Safety Policy and they sent me a one page document that looked like it had been downloaded from the internet and their name added to it.

This was in fact a Safety Policy Statement of Intent and not the full policy.

First off, I am not against using the internet for templates, but I must stress that you should be aware of what is expected when writing such a document, which is why I written this blog.

What is a Health & Safety Policy and how do I write one?

If you employ 5 or more people, this includes Directors and part time staff; it is a legal requirement to have a Health & Safety Policy in writing.

You need to do this to inform people about how you intend to deal with health and safety issues that affect what you do and how you carry out your works. It is there to show your commitment to health and safety and to identify who has what responsibilities within your business.

Is it hard or can I write it myself?

First of all it need not be complicated; a long document doesn’t always make it a good document, but it should include all aspects of the work you do and the Safety arrangements you have for each part.

What you need to do is identify who has what responsibility, in a small business that might be just one person, but if someone in your business writes the risk assessments and method statements, and someone else checks the equipment that you use, you should identify those individuals and write down what they are responsible for.

What do I put in my Policy?

Firstly it should have a Policy Statement; this is sometimes called your general Statement of Intent. This sets out how you intend to manage the health and safety aspects of your business. It will say how you will tell people about the Policy, your Safety aims and goals, and commit you to ensuring the health safety and welfare of your employees, contractors and those affected by your work. By law it must be signed by the person in charge of Health and Safety, which in a smaller company is almost always the Managing Director or Owner. Your policy must carry a signature (no more than12 monthsold), and be reviewed annually at the very maximum.

The next stage is to identify the roles and responsibilities within the business. Again this could be just one person or it could be several people who are identified to carry out specific tasks. It should also identify that every individual has a responsibility under health and safety legislation. The most popular way to do this is with an organisational chart, showing the hierarchy of seniority within your organisation and identifying named persons and their job titles, as well as their role to play in health and safety. In a smaller organisation this may not be necessary; a simple list would suffice if there are very few levels of management or control.

The final stage of writing your Policy is to identify the arrangements that you have in place for managing different aspects that affect those who either carry out work or who may be affected by the work being done. This will be the largest section of your Health and Safety policy. The arrangements give information about how you manage that particular aspect. Each element should have its own heading and under that heading you will state what you do to manage the risks associated with the use of electrical equipment and who is responsible for making sure that it takes place. The arrangements will vary dependent on the type of work that you generally undertake. Some examples of arrangements might be;

·         Welfare when on site

·         Risk Assessment procedures

·         First Aid procedures

·         Training

·         Plant Machinery & Equipment

·         Emergency procedures

·         Manual handling

Depending on the size of your organisation this list can be very long, and you may find that you add to it over time.

So I’ve written it – what next?

Firstly it should be signed and dated by the most senior person in the business, don’t forget the buck stops with you! (No matter who you delegate to do what, Health & Safety is always the responsibility of the most senior person within the company, even if you use an outside consultant for help)

Secondly, do not hide it in a draw or folder somewhere, it must be brought to the attention of those who might be affected by it. Your employees, sub contractors and sometimes people who you are working for. If you have delegated responsibility for certain things within your Policy don’t forget to make sure that those people are aware of what they are responsible for. It can be a good idea to give a copy to all new starters and to put a copy on the notice board.

You must review the Policy yearly or more often if something changes that could affect people.

Don’t forget – this is a legal document, only include things that you will actually do. Don’t say things like  you will carry out weekly inspections if you only do them monthly; this will lead to HSE inspectors being suspicious about other things that you ‘haven’t done’  if something goes wrong.

 Writing a Health & Safety Policy doesn’t have to be difficult; it simply needs to reflect what you do and how you manage it.

For more help creating your own Health and Safety policy please call us on 01709 252 485, or visit http://www.safatraining.co.uk/contact-us/ and use our contact form.