Health and Safety is an important aspect of any business. It is in place to ensure the employer or employee do not get injured or become ill whilst at work. It sounds easy but we know getting to grips with health and safety can be difficult.
There are Health and Safety laws to ensure that employees are working in an environment where risks to their health and safety are appropriately controlled.
The Health and Safety at Work Act applies to all businesses no matter how big or small, new or old. The health and safety executive (HSE) have developed ‘Health and Safety made simple ’ a document for easier understanding of how to keep you and your employees safe at work. It even includes a handy table to help you keep up to date with the actions you should be taking.
Although the majority of the responsibility lies with the employer, there are also actions an employee should take to ensure their health and safety is managed effectively through risk assessments.
The law states that employers must decide what could harm you and take precautions to prevent it, explain how risks are controlled and who is responsible for them, provide health and safety training and equipment free of charge when needed.
On the other hand, it determines the employee’s responsibility to follow the training responsibly, take reasonable care of their own and others safety and cooperate with your employee.
Remember that risks may vary for different employees; you may have an expectant mother? Is someone new to the working environment? Or someone with a disability? It is important to keep everyone in mind.
If you’ve been meaning to sort out your health and safety, there’s no better time than now. Check out the HSE ‘made simple’ guide, before it’s too late!
