The Health & Safety basics no business can ignore
Every business is legally obliged to make sure employees and customers are not harmed in any way by the actions of trading.
It’s vital to get this right. If someone falls ill or has an accident as a result of something your business has done, it will cause real heartache and stress for you, plus could cost your business a huge amount of cash.
These are the health and safety basics you should not ignore:
Assess the risks
Even if you are a one man band operating from your spare room, you must do regular risk assessments on your business. As with anything, the more you can look ahead and spot problems, the easier day-to-day business will be.
Look at your business and try to anticipate what potential hazards there are. Do you ask you staff to carry heavy items? Do they have to handle anything that could be dangerous? Do you have a lot of vehicle movements on site? Is there any chance that customers could trip or hurt themselves on your premises… if they can, they will at some point. Keep your assessment simple but don’t miss anything.
Once you have identified potential problems, deal with them immediately. Often the solutions are simple – an extra sign, or high visibility jackets.
Business Link has a comprehensive help section on risk assessments here.
Write a policy
Ensure that you keep a proper written record of your assessment and any steps you have taken to minimise risk. This is essential if you have employees and highly recommended for all businesses. Make your policies freely available to all employees, and indeed customers if they want to see them.
Register your premises
If you have employees you will normally be required to register with either the Health & Safety Executive, or your local authority. They will check your premises are suitable and you are staying within the law. Again, Business Link has a useful guide here.
Ensure comfort & cleanliness at work
It’s your responsibility to make sure your employees can do their job safely and with appropriate equipment. This means big things like making sure the premises meet fire safety standards and you have a first aid kit. But you also need to ensure they have access to a clean working toilet, and use computers properly. Saving a few pounds on proper desks and chairs now could come back to bite you in the future.
Record accidents and illness
The law insists you keep a record of all accidents or illnesses that happen to your employees during working hours. This means you even need to record a car accident they have while on a sales call. Your record can be a simple book, although you can keep information in a computer if you wish. Keep records for at least three years. Some incidents need to be reported to the Health & Safety Executive, including deaths, dangerous incidents in workplaces, any accident that stops someone doing their job for more than three days, and some work-related diseases.
Review regularly
Don’t forget to review your policies at least once a year; perhaps more often if you are growing fast. Policies like these quickly go out of date as your business changes. It’s your job to keep on top of it and ensure you stay within the law.
Further Information
You can download a 12-page guide - Leading health and safety at work - and a wealth of further health and safety information at the Health and Safety Executive website.
Remember to get professional advice from a qualified health & safety expert before taking any action. Don’t rely purely on information contained in this article.
Posted August 9, 2007
