Networking Chandler’s Ford were delighted to welcome Will White of Hampshire Health & Safety Limited as our guest speaker this morning. After more than 15 years working in a range of health and safety roles for a variety of organisations, Will has recently set up on his own. Now a small business himself, Will is in the perfect position to share the key points that every small business needs to think about. With over 60 Regulations and more than 50 Codes of Practice relating to workplaces in the UK, sometimes we all need a little guidance to help us work out what we should be doing!
What defines a small business?
Here in the UK, a small business is legally defined based on its employee headcount, its turnover and the size of its balance sheet. On those terms, a small business has less than 50 employees
and a turnover of under £10.2 million. Most of the members of Networking Chandler’s Ford (NCF) would actually qualify as Microbusinesses, with fewer than 10 employees and turnovers of under £632,000.
However, when it comes to Health & Safety, legislation requires every organisation with five or more employees to have a number of things in place:
- Health & Safety Policy
- Risk Assessments
If I have less than 5 staff, do I need these?
If you have less than five employees, the law states that you do not need to have these things written down. However, as Will explained, should something go wrong, it is likely that questions will be asked so it is worth every business – no matter how small – giving some thought to each of these areas.
A Health & Safety Policy
Your H&S Policy should be a document that outlines your commitment to protecting the well-being of your employees, visitors and others who may be affected by its activities. It should detail how you will manage health and safety risks, including who does what, who is responsible for what and arrangements which should be followed (such as Display Screen Equipment evaluations, the provision of First Aid, Fire evacuation procedures etc). Essentially, it should be a plan for creating and maintaining a safe working environment.
Will shared links to two useful documents on the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) website that small business owners might find helpful in producing their own policy:
Example Health & Safety Policy statement
Template H&S Policy
Risk Assessments
Any risk assessment should be a written document which identifies potential hazards, evaluates the risk of an accident happening because of them and how severe might be the harm they cause. The risk assessment should then look at ways these hazards can be reduced, perhaps through actions like training, using different equipment or changed working practices, for example. Remember that Risk Assessments are not ‘static’ documents; situations, working practices and equipment do change so it’s important to review your Risk Assessments to ensure
these are picked up. Will recommends reviewing them at least once a year but you may need to do it more often if there are changes in the law or your own working environment.
Again, Will recommended some resources from the HSE website that small businesses will find useful:
Example Risk Assessment (for an office)
Template for a Risk Assessment (Word document)
Training
It is likely that every employee – and every business owner – will need some training. Whether to use the equipment needed to do their job (like Manual Handling or Display Screen Equipment), as a ‘new induction’ process or to help ensure everyone’s safety (such as First Aid or Fire Warden training), training is essential in any business. To ensure that everyone has the training they need, at the right time and that it is updated or refreshed at an appropriate time, it is recommended practice that you have a training record which collates these details. (For a small business, a simple, updatable matrix or document would probably be enough.)
Other essentials to think about
Will explained that the key areas listed above are essential for all businesses to have in place but he also recommended some other areas for Microbusiness owners to consider, especially if they work in premises that are not their own homes:
Appointing a Competent Person – for smaller organisations, the HSE will assume it is the business owner unless stated otherwise so no harm in making that clear in writing.
Incident Reporting – some incidents are serious enough that they need reporting to HSE or your local authority (to check which, click here). If you’re not sure if you need to report an issue, you can check the requirements here.
First Aid (First Aiders/Appointed Persons, availability of Kits) – if you have less than 25 employees and have a low-risk workplace, you may not need to train any First Aiders or Emergency First Aiders. However, it would be both good practice and a positive demonstration to your staff, customers and visitors if you ensure trained people and First Aid kits are readily available.
Fire Procedure (What to do in the event of) – would visitors to your premises know how to get out of the building or where to go in the case of a fire or other emergency? Having a plan for evacuations and sharing it could be life-saving.
Display Screen Equipment (Self Assessment) – so many of us sit at computers for hours that reflecting on how we’re sitting can have a positive impact on our health. Will recommends the simple self-checker form on the HSE website.
Display a Health and Safety Law Poster – if you have premises, you should display the official H&S poster that details your responsibilities and the expectations on those coming to your site. You can order an official copy here.
Facilities Management (Asbestos, Legionella, EICR) including Checks and Tests (Fire Alarm Weekly, EML Monthly…) – Will advises that you should never assume your landlord is doing the maintenance and checks they should be; ask the questions. Your own safety or that of your clients could be at risk if you don’t.
In conclusion
As a really small business, there are very few legal health and safety requirements but there are things that are good practice (or perhaps just good old common sense!). Will recommends the HSE website as a really useful resource for any business, to help satisfy yourself what you should (or don’t have to) do. Of course, Will is also there to help and you can benefit from his experience and qualifications. For example, he could act as your Competent Person to advise on anything from asbestos, display screen equipment (DSE), fire safety, gas safety, hazardous substances (COSHH), Legionella, lifting equipment and accessories (LOLER), manual handling, PPE, and anything in between.
After all, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.