Health & Safety Policy

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Health & Safety Policy

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Health and Safety Policy Services

Leeds | Bradford | Yorkshire

SMS Europe Ltd can help you write and operate a Health and Safety policy.

A Health and Safety Policy is a plan detailing how you are going to manage Health and Safety issues. It is a requirement under Section 2(3) the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Your policy should set out your commitment to managing your risks and meeting your legal duties. It should also inform people in your business of their duties towards health and safety at work and the steps that they need to take in order to fulfil those duties. We are able to produce a customised Health and safety policy to meet your needs and train your staff to understand it.

All organisations employing more than five staff must by law provide a written Health and Safety policy comprising a statement of intent, the organisation for managing the policy and a full set of detailed arrangements. This should meet the standards set out in HSG65 ‘Successful Health and Safety Management’, the HSE approved management system for Health and Safety. SMS Europe will provide you with a written document so that you and your workforce are clear about who’s responsible for what.

If your business employs less than five people you are not legally required to have a written health and safety policy statement. However, you must still ensure that you work safely – a written policy can help you do this. Your business must have a Health and Safety policy, and if you employ five or more people, your policy must be in writing.

We will set out your Health and Safety policy in three parts:

The statement of intent

The statement of intent section sets out your commitment to managing health and safety effectively, and what you want to achieve.

The statement of intent says what your commitment to Health and Safety is and how you are going to manage it. There are no set rules on what you should include in your statement, but it is often only one page long. The most senior person in the business must sign and date the statement.

The organisation section of the policy

The organisation section states who is responsible for what.

The organisation section of the policy will clearly say who is responsible for what. The overall responsibility for safety rests on the employer, but day-to-day responsibility can be delegated to others within the business.
In smaller businesses, it may be very easy to decide who needs to do what for the purposes of health and safety.

You should identify who will:

• Undertake risk assessments
• make workplace inspections
• ensure safety when specific tasks or work activities are carried out or to ensure safety in specific areas of the workplace
• As businesses get larger, the organisation section of the policy may need to set out the responsibilities of staff at different levels of the hierarchy within the business.
• The organisation section will include a diagram or chart showing the business structure and the responsibilities of:
• the managing director
• other managers
• supervisors or team leaders
• all employees

Health and Safety Arrangements

The arrangements section of your policy
The arrangements section contains the detail of what you are going to do in practice to achieve the aims set out in your statement of intent. The arrangements section of your policy will also outline how you will meet the commitments you have made in your statement of intent. It details the measures you will put into place to eliminate or reduce as far as is reasonably practical the risks posed by the hazards in your workplace.

A hazard is anything in your business that could cause harm to people. A risk is the chance – however large or small – that a hazard could cause harm.
SMS Europe Ltd can also help you with your risk assessments. Risk Assessments will highlight the areas that pose a risk and any measures you currently have in place.

The additional arrangements you will make to control or minimise the risks you have identified should be set out in the arrangements section of your policy. They may include:

• Staff Training
• Using signs to highlight risks
• Improved safety equipment such as guards
• Personal protective equipment including goggles, safety boots or high visibility clothing
• Arrangements for COSHH (the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health)
• Improved lighting or anti-slip flooring
• Arrangements for Working at Height
• Arrangement for controlling noise

If your company needs a Health and Safety Policy call SMS Europe on 0845 2240028.