Managing Health And Safety In The Workplace

Managing health and safety in the workplace is of major importance in any business

. To do this you need to think about what might cause harm to people, both your staff and customers, and decide whether you are doing enough to prevent that harm. This is known as a risk assessment. Once you have identified the risks, you need to decide how to control them and put the appropriate measures in place.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (known as the Management Regs) introduced a legal duty on business/employers to identify and control workplace hazards where the risk of injury is significant.

A risk assessment is not about creating huge amounts of paperwork, but rather about identifying sensible measures to control the risks in your workplace. The law does not expect you to remove all risks, but to protect people by putting in place measures to control those risks. You are probably already taking steps to protect your employees, but your risk assessment will tell you whether you should be doing more.

How do I assess the risks in my workplace?

A good starting point is to walk around your workplace and look for any hazards - a hazard is anything that may cause harm. Then think about the risks - a risk is the chance, high or low, of somebody being harmed by the hazard, and how serious the harm could be.

Think about how accidents could happen and who might be harmed. Ask your employees what they think the hazards are, as they may notice things that are not obvious to you and may have some good ideas on how to control the risks. Concentrate on the real risks - those that are most likely to cause harm. Consider the measures you are already taking to control the risks and ask if there is anything you should do to make your workplace safer. Once you have identified the risks and what you need to do to control them, you should put the appropriate measures in place.

Then record your findings. If you have fewer than five employees you don't have to write anything down, but it is good practice to keep a record. An easy way to record your findings is to use a risk assessment form. No standard legal form exists that can be used, but as long as you record the risk and what you are doing to control it, that is all that is required. It is better to keep it simple and straightforward and not make it more complicated than it needs to be.

Few workplaces stay the same and sooner or later you will bring in new equipment, substances or procedures that could lead to new hazards. It makes sense to review your risk assessment on a regular basis. If anything significant changes, check your risk assessment and update it.

By following these simple steps, managing health and safety in the workplace will not be an arduous task, but something that is a natural task in any business.

by:Nigel J Welford

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