There are no changes to legal requirements, but the new design and structure could help you quickly find and understand what your business must do to comply with health and safety law.
The improvements are based on research which showed businesses felt some guidance was:
- hard to understand, making it time-consuming to find the area relevant to them
- long and complex, leaving them uncertain that they had the full answer
We have substantially removed duplication and replaced various publications with more accessible webpages. This will save you time and resource searching for the fundamental pieces of guidance your business needs.
The guidance stresses the importance of not only controlling risks but making sure they stay controlled. It also offers easy-to-follow guides on controlling common health and safety risks as well as advice on providing the right workplace facilities and protecting vulnerable workers.
Main improvements
The improvements include a new, brief guide providing an introduction to managing health and safety. This will help you:
- understand what managing health and safety means
- find the right guidance for your business
- use the Plan, Do, Check, Act approach to manage health and safety in a way that is simple and proportionate to your risks, while still complying with the law
We have listened to feedback and incorporated a new feature that allow you the option of easily printing off these webpages.
We now offer easy-to-follow common workplace risks guidance, so you can quickly find specific advice on the risks in your workplace.
A new managing health and safety collection page will help you find the right guidance whether you are a:
- small or low-risk business
- leader or manager overseeing your organisation’s arrangements
- director or board member leading on health and safety
A new microsite on workplace, health, safety and welfare brings guidance together on legal duties such as ventilation, temperature, safety signs and emergency procedures.
Benefits of good health and safety
Addressing health and safety should not be seen as a regulatory burden: it offers significant opportunities. Benefits can include:
- reduced costs;
- reduced risks;
- lower employee absence and turnover rates;
- fewer accidents;
- lessened threat of legal action;
- improved standing among suppliers and partners;
- better reputation for corporate responsibility among investors, customers and communities;
- increased productivity, because employees are healthier, happier and better motivated.
Appoint a competent person
As an employer, you must appoint a competent person or people to help you meet your health and safety legal duties. This is where Complisafe come in.
What a competent person does
They should have the skills, knowledge and experience to be able to recognise hazards in your business and help you put sensible controls in place to protect workers and others from harm. We are Chartered members of IOSH and consultants are recognised on the OSHCR government register.
Qualifications and training
It’s not usually essential for them to have formal qualifications and they’re not required by law to have formal training, although it can help. The competency of a Health and Safety practitioner is vital and the levels can vary between sectors and individual requirements.
Who you can appoint
You could appoint (one or a combination of): they must be competent.
- yourself
- one or more of your workers
- someone from outside your business
If there’s a competent person within your workforce, use them rather than a competent person from outside your business.
Engaging with Complisafe Health and Safety Advisors
If your business or organisation doesn’t have the competence to manage health and safety in-house, for example, if it’s large, complex or high risk, you can get help from a consultant or adviser. But remember, as the employer, managing health and safety will still be your legal duty.
