Health and Safety Policies

Organisations that manage health and safety efficiently recognise the relationship between the management of risk, the health of their workforce and the very core of the business itself. These organisations make sure that their health and safety policies align with other human resource and financial planning policies.

The best health and safety policies do not separate health and safety from any other parts of the business operation. Health and safety policies should therefore contain the following:

• Recognition of the benefits of a fit, enthusiastic, competent and committed workforce.
• Allocation of resources for health and safety.
• Roles and responsibilities for health and safety.
• Competence of personnel in health and safety subjects.
• Risk assessment and risk control principles.
• Incident reporting and investigation methods.
• Benchmarking for continuous improvement.
• Review by auditing.

Health and safety policies are the foundations of the safety management system and are a requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 also impose a requirement on employers to have in place a suitable and sufficient policy.

Health and safety policies help to drive other safety issues and are a vital component in the continuous improvement cycle.

Policy development is often the starting point of developing a good "safety culture". Therefore, policies should reflect the three fundamental components of safety culture:

Organisational factors have the major influence on individual and group behaviour, yet it is common for them to be overlooked during the design of work activities. Organisations need to establish their own positive health and safety culture that promotes employee involvement and commitment.

Job factors directly influence individual performance and control of risks. Tasks should be designed according to ergonomic principles to take account of the limitations of human performance.

Personal factors are the attributes that employees bring to their jobs. They include both physical and mental attributes, which include habits, attitudes, skills and personality.

We believe that policies, which are practical and clear for all employees to understand and follow, are the foundations of successful health and safety management. Solid foundations lead to solid structures. As far as health and safety policies are concerned, good quality policies that include a significant proportion of organisational, job and personal factors can help an organisation achieve great success and improvement in health and safety performance.

If you would like further details of how we can create safety policies that make a difference, please contact us.