Does my company need a Health & Safety Policy?
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 place duties on employers to assess and manage risks to their employees and others arising from work activities.
All organisations employing five or more people must have a written Health and Safety Policy statement.
TAWSA can work with you to produce bespoke policies for your business, we can help you monitor and review these documents on a regular basis, ensuring that you are always complying with your duties as an employer.
A health and safety policy is not necessarily a stand-alone document, frequently these are also tied in to other crucial documents such as RAMS (Risk Assessment Method Statements) and will form part of your Safe Systems of Work.
What should the polices cover
The policy is a hierarchical document that should state how you manage heath & safety in your organisation
The document should contain an overview of how your organisation is committed to health & safety, and how responsibility is allocated.
The document may also contain an overview of how you manage such matters as:
- Risk assessments
- Fire safety
- First aid
- Accident reporting
- Electrical safety
- Work equipment
- COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health)
- Manual handling