Get Ahead with Your Policies and Procedures

“It takes leadership to improve safety”- Jackie Stewart

Safety policies, risk assessments and procedures are all legal requirements for businesses. Breaching safety regulations is a criminal offence.

Inspectors, insurers and auditors can ask to see these at any time and without them, businesses can face serious consequences including fines.

With the new year upon us, it is the perfect time to take stock and ensure that all those necessary policies and procedures are in place and that they are suitable and sufficient.

Below we run through the questions we frequently receive and which recognise the importance of reviewing your policies and procedures sooner rather than later. 

How do I know my ‘Safety Policy’ meets legal standards?

To satisfy legal requirements your policy needs to have 3 core elements – a statement of intent, organisation, and arrangements. An auditor should be able to come into your business and use your policies  (and other health and safety documentation including risk assessments and method statements) to easily ascertain what actions are being taken (against your objectives) and understand exactly who is responsible for each part.

These need to be up to date and relevant to your business as it currently stands. Your policy and any updates also need to be readily available and all employees brought up to date. How you choose to do this though, is up to you.

My Policies, Procedures and Systems were developed years ago, is this ok?

Keeping up to date is vital. Regularly reviewing and amending safety policies where necessary is a legal requirement for all businesses with five or more employees.

You need your policy and procedures to be accurate and reflect the state of your business right now. If they are not applicable to the present, employees will not be inclined to follow them. They also may indicate that you are not adhering to your legal responsibilities. 

What are external standards, and do I need to follow them?

There are several organisations that  have developed standards to support businesses achieve health and safety compliance. These provide a structure to guide you to the exact requirements to ensure your business remains legally compliant.

If your risk assessments, policies, or procedures refer to external standards (e.g HSE – Stress Management Standards) then you have a duty to ensure that you abide by these.

Reference to a standard and failure to adhere to it, can and will be held against you should a legal case occur.

What do I need to consider when updating a risk assessment?

When thinking about your risk assessments and updates, consider the following:

•          Have you got the legally required risk assessments? (Some are required for certain businesses only)

•          Is everything in your risk assessments current and up to date?

•          Have your employees been informed about your findings? Have you communicated what is expected of them?

Even if you are not obligated to create a written version of a risk assessment, you will still need to conduct one. Without taking reasonable steps to prevent harm to others you still face serious consequences.

My documents are up to date, now what?

A great policy and assessment shouldn’t only exist as a document, it needs to be effected in the real world to protect your workforce against risks and hazards.

The delivery and execution of your policies and procedures needs to be evident within your workplace and  proven to be effective, too.

To achieve this, you need to frequently ask yourself questions like:

-           Is the training mentioned carried out as frequently as stated?

-           Are safety checks also carried out regularly?

-           What do you have in place to ensure that you have followed all the steps advised and within the time frames specified?             Who is responsible for this?

You should now have a good idea of what you need to do with your documentation to ensure that it is not only legally compliant but also practically designed and delivered in order to protect your workforce and business.

If you would like advice or assistance with your documentation, then get in touch today.