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Q&A: Health and safety rules
All businesses must comply with health and safety rules to ensure they don’t put the welfare of their employees, customers and visitors at risk. Failure to do so can result in severe penalties. But what does compliance involve? Jonathan Dunkley, partner at Muckle LLP, outlines key health and safety responsibilities for small businesses
Why do I need to worry about health and safety rules?
All businesses have a legal responsibility to protect the health and safety of their employees and others affected by their activities. Employers must comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and extensive subordinate legislation. If health and safety rules are broken, employers face severe penalties, with potentially unlimited fines. The worst transgressions can even result in imprisonment.
But I’m just a very small start-up…
Businesses aren’t exempt simply because they’re small or new. Ironically, the smaller the business, the more exposed their owners and directors. Historically, they have been more likely to serve custodial sentences than directors of larger companies.
What about my employees?
They also have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others affected by their acts or omissions, but the primary responsibility will be yours, the employer/business owner.
Should I carry out a health and safety risk assessment?
Certainly. You must proactively assess and manage health and safety risks. Frequently, it’s impossible to eliminate all risk, but you must undertake a risk assessment of any aspect of your business that could cause harm.
Depending on the nature of your business this could include the risks from: slips, trips and falls; excessive noise or extremes of temperature; exposure to chemicals or hazardous substances; the use of workplace equipment and transport and the risks posed by lone working. The Health and Safety Executive website contains some example risk assessments as well as a range of free, practical advice and tools to help you manage health and safety.
Most risks can be reduced and controlled by taking simple and inexpensive action. In normal circumstances, the assessment should be documented, with action points detailed. This might include specific training, the introduction of personal protective equipment or the implementation of specific, safe-working practices. Failure to undertake an assessment and control risks would normally be regarded as a breach of health and safety legislation.
Must I create a written health and safety policy?
If you employ five or more people, you must have a written health and safety policy statement, that way everyone understands their responsibilities. Your policy must set out your commitment to managing risks and meeting your obligations. Involve your employees when preparing and implementing your health and safety policy.
And if I do not have a written health and safety policy?
Just suppose there’s a fatal accident. The police or Health & Safety Executive will ask to see your written policy. If you don’t have one, and this is considered to have contributed to someone’s death – and the way your activities are managed or organised amounts to a gross breach of a duty of care – you could be guilty of an offence under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. You may also be convicted of gross negligence manslaughter – and sent to prison.
What should a health and safety policy include?
Documents are set out in three parts. (1) ‘The statement of intent’ explains your commitment to managing health and safety and nominates the person (probably you) with ultimate responsibility for this. (2) ‘The organisation’ section explains who is responsible for what. (3) ‘The arrangements’ section details how you’re going to do to achieve the aims set out in your statement of intent.
What if one of my staff gets sick or injured in a workplace accident?
Under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR), you must record and promptly report certain incidents, accidents or industrial illnesses. This is always necessary when an accident involves death, major injury or an employee being unable to work for three consecutive days (seven consecutive days from 6 April 2012).
What about near-misses?
If an incident doesn’t cause serious injury, but clearly could have, it should be recorded and reported. Failure to do so could result in an unlimited fine – even imprisonment, if an employer has been personally negligent or has connived in the failure to report.
Are there any business benefits to health and safety best practice?
Of course, poor health and safety leads to illness and accidents that could prove an enormous drain on your finances. Simple but effective health and safety practices pay for themselves. They also improve your reputation among customers, regulators and employees. Given the massive increase in penalties under health and safety legislation introduced last year, the cost of non-compliance is likely to exceed by a long way the cost of compliance.
Can having bad health and safety provisions harm my business?
It can reduce productivity, damage products, equipment or premises, there could be considerable fines and legal costs if you’re prosecuted. Your insurance premiums will undoubtedly rise. Most competitive tendering now requires you to disclose any health and safety investigations and convictions. Many customers won’t deal with businesses that have a bad health and safety record and good employees might not want to work for you. Having safe and healthy working conditions will make it easier for you to attract and retain customers, employees and business partners.
You may also be interested in our case study: How my business complies with rules and regulations.
You can find further advice on health and safety on the Law Donut.
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Comments
Please note.
The RIDDOR reporting criterea change on April 6th 2012. The period of absence required to make an injury reportable changes from 3 days, not including the date of the incident, to 7 days, not including the date of the incident. All accidents and dangerous occurences must still be recorded in an accident book.
The change may seem to indicate that accidents are less likely to be investigated by enforcing authorities but an injury requiring only 3 days absence from work is likely to be less serious than an injury requiring 7 days or more absence from work and will therefore be MORE likely to attract the attention of the HSE or Environmental Health Authorities.
This will not affect an employer's liability in the event of a compensation claim.
This is sound information. However, it is what small business owners hear all the time. It would be considerably more useful to give some examples of the sort of things that the business owner needs to consider.
ie., Risk assessments should look out for hazards that could cause slips, trips and falls, excessive noise, chemicals (including cleaning materials), electricity, fire, violence, stress and so on.
All employees should be assessed at their workstations. Employees who shift large, unwieldy items around or who do repetitive jobs should undergo manual handling training - this includes carrying boxes of photocopy paper. Anyone using a ladder (or similar) should be trained in working at height. All work tools should be assessed using PUWER for guidelines. Specialist equipment comes with other rules. There should be clear policy on alcohol and drugs at work, disability discrimination and for that matter, data protection.
This is not a finite list.
The business Director should also know that much of H&S comes under Criminal Law - which in turn means you cannot transfer liability. So the buck stops with you. Generally, you are guilty and have to prove your innocence - and the only way you can do that is by having the paperwork in place.
Clearly, the majority of business owners do not believe that someone could die at work, despite the fact that it happens. So, in my opinion there is a belief that corporate manslaughter is a thing that would only happen to huge oil companies, or train companies. However, it is a very real possibility that a business owner (Director) would be banned from running their business for years if they are found to be guilty of breaches of H&S. And if they escape a ban, the fine is theirs to pay. Not the insurance companies. It is often to be paid by the individual Director. Recent cases have seen 4 year and 5 year bans and fines of over £100,000. Similarly, their business could flounder overnight if the incident hits the headlines. After all, who wants to work with a business who cannot be bothered about their own employees health & safety?
There is a significant amount of free information available. Check out the HSE website for information. It is an ideal time to start developing your H&S policies when you are a small business. Make an assessment now to see what would be considered the most dangerous aspect of your business. Set aside a little time each week and start working out what should be done first and then put a plan together to ensure that another policy is ticked off each week. Don't forget to ensure that all of your employees know and understand all of your policies too. And I mean really understand them, not just know where they are filed.
Finally, H&S is a moving feast. Review, review, review. What may have been acceptable a couple of years ago may not be acceptable practice today.
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