Health and Safety Part 1 – Writing a Health and Safety Policy

Transcript

So coming up, we’ll start with the purpose of a safety policy and why it is needed, before looking closely at the three elements that form the content.

The Purpose

Let’s begin, then, with the Purpose.

A safety policy should be a working document. It should set out your organisation’s general approach to health and safety, and explain how you will manage health and safety in your group, charity or social enterprise.

And that’s it, you don’t need to include pages of small print about noise, trips and falls, manual handling and so on… These are all matters that should be dealt with separately in a risk assessment.

But why is it needed?

Having an effective safety policy is a sign of a healthy organisation. It makes clear who is responsible for safety and what this actually involves.

And for organisations that employ staff, it is also the law.

But even if you are volunteer-only, it is good practice to have a written safety policy

It shows that you plan, check and act on safety matters; and in particular, it demonstrates a positive attitude towards health and safety.

A safety policy may also be a requirement of certain funders.

So clearly, it is an important document. But what about the policy’s content… There are three main elements…starting with

The Statement

Quite simply, this is just a few lines committing the organisation to looking after the health, safety and welfare of its people; and meeting its health and safety duties.

Roles and responsibilities

Next are roles and responsibilities. Firstly, you need someone with overall and final responsibility for health and safety, such as your trustee board, and then someone with day-to-day responsibility such as your chief officer.

You also need to name those with any specific safety roles, such as undertaking risk assessment, monitoring safety controls, dealing with problems, and supervising team members.

You should also set out the responsibility of your staff and/or volunteers to work safely, attend safety training, and report concerns.

Safety arrangements

So what about your safety arrangements? Well, these should cover the actions, processes and procedures you will follow to manage health and safety.

This should include arrangements for conducting risk assessments, such as when and where they are needed, and how often they are carried out.

Other arrangements should cover how and when your team will be consulted on safety matters, your first aid arrangements, safety training, reporting incidents, and your emergency evacuation procedure.

Finally, the arrangements should also name your competent health and safety adviser. This is either an internal or external person who understands the safety issues you face and is experienced in safety matters.

Now, to help you, there are links to a template for a safety policy in the accompanying transcript of this presentation.

But let’s just sum up…

Keep it simple. Start your policy with an opening statement of intent, followed by a list of roles and responsibilities, and finally, a page or two setting out your arrangements. This is all you really need.

Thank you