The goal of health and safety is to safeguard everyone who interacts with your organisation, including employees, subcontractors, clients, and the general public. The Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974 imposes a responsibility of care on you but going along with the law is also smart business. Businesses that break the law risk losing employees, paying more for new hires, having poorer retention rates, and experiencing decreased profitability.
Even worse, inadequate health and safety can cause illness, injury, and even death. If you violate health and safety laws, you may be prosecuted and face fines, jail time, and even the closure of your firm.
Providing A Safe Workplace For All
Workplace health and safety is a team effort. Employees are also accountable to some extent. However, it is your responsibility as an employer to make sure that your workplace is safe for employees to work in. This simply means that you must ensure that your employees are safeguarded from anything that can endanger or injure them while they are at work. Employers must manage workplace risks and take all necessary measures to reduce or eliminate them. This typically means: Conducting risk analysis, giving crucial risk information; and ensuring that managers and employees have the necessary guidance and training to handle those risks.
It’s Your Responsibility As An Employer
It’s crucial that HR consultants, line managers, and SMEs frequently examine law modifications and updates to ensure that they stay on track and in the HSWA’s good graces to avoid paying hefty fines for health and safety violations.
The HSWA imposes numerous obligations on the employer to safeguard the health and safety of its employees, including employees, both indirect and direct, temps and casual employees, freelancers and subcontractors.
Employers have a responsibility to protect anyone associated with their firm “so far as is practically reasonable.” You can discover government-issued manuals and codes of conduct that outline obligations and address everything from heavy lifting to hazardous conditions alongside the HSWA laws.
It Helps Promote A Positive & Safe Culture
Dealing with health and safety can appear to be a chore since, on the surface, it may resemble filling out paperwork rather than doing what you actually enjoy, which is moving your company forward. However, it need not be burdensome and is a necessary component of any successful organisation.
- Establish a documented policy
A written policy is only required by the HSWA if you have five or more employees. Even if you don’t have many employees, having a written one is still a smart idea because it forces you to carefully examine your business’s risks and set safeguards in place. It will outline who is accountable for health and safety in your organisation, provide a general statement about health and safety and how you intend to manage it, and discuss business hazards and what you’ve done to reduce or eliminate them. If necessary, the policy should be revised more frequently than once a year.
- Get the appropriate tools.
A key step in the right direction is having a health and safety policy, but you also need to make sure you’re managing those risks. Ensure that your personnel has the tools necessary to do their duties effectively and securely. In order to ensure that equipment is used correctly and to lower the likelihood of errors, it is also crucial to have the appropriate signs and training.
Our Services
We offer bespoke health and safety services for the following;-
•Health and safety audits
•Health and safety policy statements
•Fire risk assessments
•Competent person
•COTC training
•Safe operating procedures
Contact Us Today
Looking to improve workplace safety? Business Safety Solutions provides several dedicated health and safety services including health and safety policies, audits, fire risk assessments, and formulating comprehensive health and safety plans. For more information or to enquire with us today, please call 01244 455277.
