Health and Safety

Source: www.hse.gov.uk

Questions from a small-business owner:

What is health and safety all about?

Preventing people from being harmed by work or becoming ill by taking the right precautions – and providing a satisfactory working environment.

Why are there health and safety laws?

Because health and safety at work is so important, there are rules which require all of us not to put ourselves or others in danger. The law is also there to protect the public from workplace dangers.

Do health and safety laws apply to me?

Yes. To all businesses, however small; also to the self-employed and to employees.

Who enforces health and safety law?

Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or your local authority. For example:

• HSE at factories, farms and building sites;
• Local authorities in offices, shops, hotels and catering, and leisure activities.

What do inspectors actually do?

They visit workplaces to check that people are sticking to the rules. They investigate some accidents and complaints but mainly they help you to understand what you need to do. They enforce only when something is seriously wrong.

Do I have to contact an inspector to get information?

No. HSE operates a confidential telephone information service called Infoline which is open Monday-Friday between 8 am and 6 pm. You can contact Infoline by telephone 08701 545500 or fax 02920 859260, or e-mail hseinformationservices@natbrit.com. Alternatively you can write to HSE Information Services, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG.

Do I need to register my business?

It's likely you will if you employ anyone - contact Infoline for more clarity on your situation.

Do I need to have employers' liability compulsory insurance?

It's the law if you employ anyone - and you should display the certificate. See the free leaflet, "Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance Act 1969. A guide for employers HSE40" available from HSE Books on 01787 881165 or from www.hsebooks.co.uk.

Do I need to display any posters?

Yes, the health and safety law poster (ISBN 0 7176 2493 5) if you employ anyone.  Alternatively you can provide your employees with individual copies of the same information in a leaflet called "Health and safety law: What you should know" (available in packs of 25 ISBN 0 7176 1702 5).  The poster and leaflets are available from HSE Books.

What you should know:

Controlling dangers at work is no different from tackling any other task – recognising the problem, knowing enough about it, deciding what to do, putting the solution into practice.  If you have five or more employees you will need to have a written health and safety policy statement. This sets out how you manage health and safety in your organisation.  You must do risk assessments – careful examinations of what could cause harm to people in your work.

What law applies?

• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (risk assessment)
• Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996
• Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977

What do you do if there's an accident at work?

If someone has been hurt or fallen ill at work it's important to take care of them straight away, and make any dangerous conditions safe.  First aid means treating minor injuries at work and giving immediate attention to more serious casualties until medical help is available.  Through this initial management of injury or illness suffered at work, lives can be saved and minor injuries prevented from becoming major ones.  Reporting accidents and ill health at work is a legal requirement. The enforcing authorities use the information to see the big picture of where injuries, ill health and accidental losses are occurring, and to advise on preventive action.

What law applies?

• The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981
• Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR)

Risk Assessment:

A risk assessment is a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm. The aim is to make sure that no one gets hurt or becomes ill. The important things you need to decide are whether a hazard is significant and whether you have it covered by satisfactory precautions so that the risk is small.  Hazard means something that can cause harm.  Risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody will be harmed by the hazard.

Hazards

• Walk around your workplace and look for significant hazards which could result in harm to several people.
• Ask your employees/their representative what they think.
• Look at manufacturers' instructions and accident and ill-health records.
• Consider whether any of the hazards covered in this leaflet exist in your workplace.

Who might be harmed and how?

• Think about groups of people doing similar work.
• Pay special attention to vulnerable groups eg young people, people with disabilities, lone workers.
• Don't forget those who may not be in your workplace all the time eg cleaners, contractors, people you share your workplace with or members of the public who may be harmed by your activities.

Aim to make the risk small

For the hazards listed, do the existing precautions:

• meet the standards set by legal requirements?
• comply with a recognised industry standard?
• represent good practice?
• reduce risk as far as reasonably practicable?

Have you provided adequate information, instruction or training and adequate systems or procedures? If so, the risks are adequately controlled, but you need to indicate the precautions you have in place.  If risks remain, write an 'action list' of what else you need to do, giving priority to higher risks or those which could affect most people. Try to either get rid of the risk or control it so that harm is unlikely.

Record your findings

If you have fewer than five employees, you do not have to write anything down, but it is helpful. If you have more than five employees, you must write down your significant hazards and conclusions and tell your employees about your findings. Keep your written record for future reference.

Review your assessment and revise if necessary

• It is good practice to review your assessment from time to time to make sure that precautions are still working. 
• Set a date for reviewing the assessment.

Further information

An example of a Health and Safety Policy Statement is available on the HSE website (www.hse.gov.uk)

HSE priced and free publications are available by mail order from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA, Tel: 01787 881165 Fax: 01787 313995

(HSE priced publications are also available from bookshops and free leaflets can be downloaded from HSE's website)

For information about health and safety ring HSE's Infoline Tel: 08701 545500 Fax: 02920 859260; e-mail: hseinformationservices@natbrit.com or write to HSE Information Services, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG.