H&S at Work Regulations 1999

All organisations have management processes or arrangements to deal with payroll, personnel issues, finance and quality control – managing health and safety is no different. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (MHSWR) 1999 require employers to put in place arrangements to control health and safety risks. As a minimum, you should have the processes and procedures required to meet the legal requirements, including:

• a written health and safety policy (if you employ five or more people)
• assessments of the risks to employees, contractors, customers, partners, and any other people who could be affected by your activities – and record the significant findings in writing (if you employ five or more people). Any risk assessment must be ‘suitable and sufficient’
• arrangements for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures that come from risk assessment
• access to competent health and safety advice
• providing employees with information about the risks in your workplace and how they are protected
• instruction and training for employees in how to deal with the risks 
• ensuring there is adequate and appropriate supervision in place  
• consulting with employees about their risks at work and current preventive and protective measures

HSE provides advice and templates on these processes – see HSE’s Risk management site for more information.

Risk profiling

Effective leaders and line managers know the risks their organisations face rank them in order of importance and take action to control them. The range of risks goes beyond health and safety risks to include quality, environmental and asset damage, but issues in one area could impact in another.

Although you may not use these precise terms, you will most likely have built a risk profile that covers:

• the nature and level of the risks faced by your organisation
• the likelihood of adverse effects occurring and the level of disruption
• the costs associated with each type of risk
• the effectiveness of the controls in place to manage those risks

Regardless of anything else, it is important that someone within or external) Manages your Health & Safety in a professional manner, in the best interest of you as the employer and your employees.

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.

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.

Qualifications and training

It is not usually essential for them to have formal qualifications and they are not required by law to have formal training, although it can help.

Who you can appoint

You could appoint (one or a combination of):

• yourself
• one or more of your workers
• someone from outside your business

Usually, managing health and safety is not complicated and you can do it yourself with the help of your workers. You know your workplace best and the risks associated with it.

If there is a competent person within your workforce, use them rather than a competent person from outside your business.

Using a consultant or adviser

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. However, remember, as the employer, managing health and safety will still be your legal duty.

Source – Health & safety Executive