If you run a small or medium sized business you will need to work harder on your health and safety to keep in control. Whether you have a board of directors, partners or are the sole owner you have duties to follow and these can be quite complicated, especially if you’re working on guess work. As there are strict laws in place regarding health and safety and lives being put at risk it’s vital to ensure your systems and policy is adequate and effective to avoid problems.

Small and Medium Sized Businesses, get to know the Core Actions

There are several core actions that you will need to perform, regardless on the size of your company. The best place to start is with a plan on how you intent to manage health and safety. If you have five or more employees you must write down the plan and keep a copy of it for future reference. The plan needs to be discussed with your employees and you need to try and get them involved in the plan to help reduce the risks and make sure the plan is successful.

Once you have the plan and have informed your employees you need to deliver on it. Delivering on it will involve:

• Providing the necessary resources that are required.
• Assessing risks.
• Getting help from health and safety consultants where necessary – recognise when you need to outsource.
• Make changes and re-evaluate the plan when you take no new working methods or new employees.

Monitoring and reviewing are two more core action that needs to be taken. This involves staying in tune with recent developments and checking to see how the plan is performing at regular intervals. It is possible that the plan will become outdated or irrelevant as your business evolves and new working practices are introduced. It’s essential to stay on top of the risk assessments and safe working methods and when these change to provide updated information to those who are affected.

Learn More about Your Legal Responsibilities

Health and safety consultants are able to help you with any aspect of your health and safety management. Whether you need help creating the plan, with health and safety training or need the services of a competent person the consultants will be able to step in and keep you working safely. Call 0800 1488 677 to learn more about your legal responsibilities or to request assistance.