A brief guidance note designed to assist employers write and communicate a suitable Health & Safety Policy for their organisation

If you employ 5 or more people you have a legal obligation to have a written Health & Safety Policy. The Health & Safety Policy need not be too long and typically extends to no more than a single side of A4. It provides an outline on the organisations’ safety objectives and safety arrangements.

So what are the key elements to an effective health & safety policy?

1. The Policy should be endorsed by top management, such as the Board of Directors, Managing Director, Chief Executive or equivalent in order to demonstrate the importance the organisation attaches to safety management. The Policy should be signed and dated by the top management representative.
2. The Policy should be specific to the organisation. A good way to do this is to include a paragraph identifying the most significant hazards associated with the organisation’s work activities.
3. The Policy should include a commitment to comply with all relevant legislation. You may wish to go further and commit to compliance with best practice or other industry standards.
4. The Policy should briefly outline the safety arrangements in place to safeguard employees and others. This could simply refer to your Health & Safety Management System, if you have one, or to other relevant documents which detail the arrangements you have put in place.
5. If you want to achieve independent certification to OHSAS 18001:2007 then you need to include a statement committing the organisation to "continuous improvement". In reality, this is not too onerous since the rate of improvement does not need to be specified and the legal requirements are likely to become more stringent with time, rather than be relaxed.
6. The Policy must be communicated to your employees. A good way to do this is to hang a framed copy in a suitable location such as your Reception area.
7. The Policy should be available upon request, and is therefore a public document. For this reason it is important to phrase the document as a statement of intent, and not include quantifiable targets that you might not hit – these can be included elsewhere out of the public eye. It is often a good idea to include your Health & Safety Policy on your web site.
8. The Policy should be reviewed from time to time. It is good practice to do this each year, and to include date reviewed on the Policy so that it is apparent that it is current and up to date.