Writing a health and safety policy
January 25, 2025 - January 25, 2025
Writing a health and safety policy
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Factsheet
Having a health and safety policy is an important way of showing your commitment to how you are managing these issues in your workplace.
It’s already a legal requirement for companies with five or more employees, but all small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) are strongly advised to have a policy in place.
This factsheet will explain what a health and safety policy is, what should go into it, and how to go about writing one.
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Factsheet: Writing a health and safety policy |
Overview
Having a health and safety policy is an important way of showing your commitment to how you are managing these issues in your workplace.
It’s already a legal requirement for companies with five or more employees, but all small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) are strongly advised to have a policy in place.
This factsheet will explain what a health and safety policy is, what should go into it, and how to go about writing one.
What is a health and safety policy?
The Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) defines a health and safety policy as a statement about how you will manage health and safety issues within your workplace. It should set out the arrangements that you have put in place to address health and safety issues and, essentially, it should say who does what and when, and how they do it.
It is also a legal requirement – under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 – that anyone who employs five or more people must have a written health and safety policy. But as well as meeting minimum legal requirements, writing a policy is a key means of establishing acceptable standards on health and safety issues, and reducing accidents and work-related ill-health.
It also demonstrates to employees, investors and other ‘stakeholders’ in your organisation that you have a commitment to maintaining health and safety standards.
Whose responsibility?
The ultimate responsibility for health and safety issues in your workplace rests with you as the employer. But day-to-day responsibility for administering particular elements of the policy can be delegated, so your policy needs to be clear about how, and to whom, tasks have been allocated, such as who is responsible for reporting an accident or for first aid.
For small businesses, finding the time and resources to deal with matters such as health and safety may seem a challenge, but there is a range of information and support available to help you. As well as the information available from the HSE, the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) runs the Good Neighbour Scheme, through which organisations are encouraged to share best practice with regard to health and safety with their suppliers and contractors.
Key steps in drawing up your health and safety policy
The first step should be to discuss the issue with the key decision makers within the business and decide matters such as who will take responsibility for the policy; whether targets should be set for improvements to health and safety; and how often the policy should be reviewed. While overall responsibility always lies with the owner, the responsibility for specific arrangements – for organising training, or for reporting incidents – can be delegated. In a very small firm, both overall and day-to-day responsibility may rest with the owner.
The health and safety issues that you face – and, hence, your policy – will be unique to your firm, reflecting its particular situation. In order to identify the issues, you will need to conduct a risk assessment. In many cases this process will be relatively straightforward and carried out using common sense and perhaps with reference to guidance published by the HSE, trade associations and product manufacturers.
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Carrying out a risk assessment
Small businesses in particular may only need to consider a limited range of possible problem areas, simply because their activities are restricted. But in some circumstances it may be necessary to bring in specialists to carry out particular tasks – to measure air quality for example – or to give advice. And employers are required by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 to assess the risks arising from workplace activities and record any significant findings.
When carrying out a risk assessment, the HSE recommends that you remember that risk areas are not limited to those associated with industrial activities such as chemicals, machinery, falling objects and hazardous substances. There is a wide range of other potential risk areas or factors, some of which may be less obvious, including VDU equipment, stress, upper limb disorders, transport and violence to staff. You also need to consider any risk to visitors to your premises. See our ‘Health and safety risk assessment’ factsheet for more details on carrying out a risk assessment.
Consult and communicate with your employees
Employers are legally obliged to consult staff on health and safety issues. Employees and their representatives may have a better awareness of workplace conditions and therefore of potential health and safety issues. So consulting staff is not only a legal obligation but is likely to lead to a better policy and safer working environment. Once a policy has been drawn up, with input from staff representatives, if must be communicated to staff.
You are required to display a poster – or to provide leaflets – telling employees what they need to know about health and safety. You should take particular care that young employees (such as trainees or those on work experience) are properly instructed or supervised. You may also need to make provision for communicating your health and safety policy through specific training programmes and the induction of new staff.
Writing a health and safety policy
Your policy statement should set out the arrangements – the systems and procedures – that you have put in place to address health and safety matters. The policy may refer to supporting documents, such as work rules, training programmes and emergency instructions. Employees must see the policy statement, although they may not need to see all of the supporting documents.
The HSE says that the policy should be reviewed regularly, ideally at least every year, as well as whenever there are organisational or operational changes within the workplace. According to the HSE, a typical health and safety policy statement should clearly identify itself as such, as well as identifying the organisation to which it applies. It should also be signed by the employer and dated, with a review date given.
It should make a statement of your general health and safety policy, which might take the format: ‘Our statement of general policy is’:
i. to provide adequate control of the health and safety risks arising from our work activities
ii. to consult with our employees on matters affecting their health and safety
iii. to provide and maintain safe plant and equipment
iv. to ensure the safe handling and use of substances
Responsibility
Your policy should identify who has responsibility for the policy at various levels. The ultimate responsibility must lie with you, the employer, and you should be named at this point. However, day-to-day responsibility can be delegated, perhaps to a general manager, and if this is the case the individual who has day-to-day responsibility should be identified. Specific tasks and roles can be assigned to particular staff – again, the policy must identify the relevant individuals and their responsibilities. There is likely to be less scope for delegation in small firms and this will probably be reflected in the policy statement.
Consultation
You should also identify the employee representatives within your organisation, and who will consult with them. If you recognise a trade union and that union has appointed a safety representative, you must consult with them on matters affecting the employees they represent. If there are no trade unions you
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must still consult your employees, either directly or through elected representatives. If there is a health and safety committee, you could identify the members, what it does and how often it meets.
Risk assessments
Part of having a health and safety policy is carrying out risk assessments. Your policy should identify who will carry out these assessments, who the findings of those assessments will be reported to and who will approve action required to remove or control risks. You should also be clear about who will be responsible for ensuring that required action is implemented; and when assessments will be reviewed.
Health and safety training
The policy should also state who is responsible for providing advice and training to staff on health and safety issues. This includes naming the appointed first aider(s) and who will record accidents and incidents of work-related ill health in an accident book. You should also delegate and identify who is responsible for the following tasks:
• emergency procedures, including fire risk assessment, checking escape routes, maintaining fire extinguishers and testing alarms
• monitoring workplace conditions and for investigating accidents; incidents of work-related ill health; and for acting on investigation findings
• identifying plant and equipment that needs maintenance; drawing up maintenance procedures; and checking that new equipment meets health and safety standards
• the safe handling and use of substances (where appropriate)
The HSE publishes a range of free and priced publications to help you write a policy such as the ‘Stating Your Business’ booklet, which is a particularly useful starting point as it contains a template that you can use and is aimed at small firms in particular. You do not have to use the actual document or follow its exact format – you can adapt it to your own requirements if you prefer.
Summary
Writing a health and safety policy is an important step for all businesses – and a legal requirement for those with five or more employees. While the task may appear daunting, it doesn’t have to be a complicated or time-consuming process and there is lots of advice and help available to small firms.
Further information
Health and safety risk assessment
www.businesslink4london.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=res.viewResource&resID=151&sctn=46&subsctn=
Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
HSE free publications
‘Starting your Business’
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg324.pdf
Good Neighbour Scheme
www.hse.gov.uk/events/goodn1.htm
Advice for your business
If you are running your own business, or thinking about starting one, getting the right business advice at the right time can give you a real edge. Business Link for
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