Health and Safety Companion

 

 

 

 

 

 

Workplace health and safety regulations

For small and medium-sized businesses the myriad of regulations that need to be considered in the workplace can be confusing at best. For very small concerns it can be tempting to ignore them, and hope that common sense and well thought out operating procedures will ensure that you and your staff will come to no harm during the course of a normal working day. Although this may at first seem like a reasonable plan of action, it is one that can result in costly fines, and even imprisonment, under the most recent act to come into force. The idea of employing someone full-time just to look after these issues may be out of the question for a small company, and other members of staff perhaps do not have enough time to familiarise themselves with all the requirements of the current laws. There are of course many health and safety books available for purchase that go into great detail as to exactly what obligations a business is under these days. Unfortunately, many of them are written for experts in the field who already have a good working knowledge of the subject, and can be incomprehensible to the layman. Another alternative could be to elect someone in your company to attend a training course and then study these publications in detail afterwards, but as mentioned above, the time that this person would have to invest in such an endeavour may make this an impracticable option for most small businesses. Employing the services of a consultancy is one way around the problem and can often be a good solution, but it may prove too costly to hand over responsibility for all the work that needs to be done. The software that we have created was written with these kinds of issues in mind.

Health and safety act

This act, created in 1974, laid down general principles and enabled the easy introduction of further specific regulations and codes of practice to cover various areas of industry and commerce. The main task for any business is to establish which particular regulations apply to the activities carried out on their premises and also what precautions they should have in place to protect not only their employees but also any visitors to their site and their customers and suppliers. The exact nature of these precautions will of course depend on the type of business that your company is engaged in, the equipment in use by your staff and any specific hazards peculiar to your location. It is vital for you to be aware of all the latest requirements in these areas and have systems in place to ensure that your business is not in violation of current health and safety legislation. Our software will be able to assist you in making sure that you have all aspects covered and has been produced to be easily understandable and simple to use. There are many different areas of legislation aimed at covering specific activities that companies may be engaged in and the materials used in any manufacturing processes carried out at their facilities. Our product will guide you through the particular regulations that apply to your business and help you to create standard operating procedures and carry out risk assessments to identify potential problem areas and remedy them where necessary. Its ease of use makes it ideal for people new to the subject.

Health and safety work

Once you have established which regulations apply to your company, the next task is to identify how they affect individual employees and the type of work they carry out. The various codes of practice that are currently in force need to be adhered to at all times and, as an example, it is important that you make sure that any staff dealing with potentially dangerous chemicals are familiar with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSSH) regulations and make the procedures an integral part of their daily routines. You may think that such regulations are only of interest to large manufacturing facilities engaged in the production of industrial chemicals but even the substances used in a hairdressing salon are covered by these codes of practice. Apart from covering possible dangers, much of the current legislation deals with cleanliness and procedures to avoid contamination - both of the products that your company may produce and of your employees. Health and safety guidelines may seem to be an unnecessary bother at first glance, but they are there to protect your staff and customers and, apart from the legal aspect of compliance, can also help to ensure that the good reputation of your business is not damaged by having to recall contaminated products, or by finding yourself in the news following any accidents on your site. You will see, as you work your way through our system, how it simplifies complying with the applicable regulations and enables your staff to follow the correct procedures with the minimum of fuss. Safeguarding the health of your employees is not only the right thing to do of course, but an effective and well implemented company health and safety policy can also have financial benefits, in the form of reduced days off due to sickness or injury.

Staff training

Knowing what your company is responsible for with regard to current legislation and understanding how recommended procedures apply to your staff is key to setting up an efficient system, but the next thing that you will want to consider is how to convey all this information to your staff. Effective training is something that can be difficult to implement without the right materials. Contained within our software are a number of PowerPoint presentations that have been developed to communicate information in a manner that is both clear and capable of holding the attention of your employees. There is nothing worse than poorly designed training materials that send everyone to sleep within minutes of the presentation starting. We do understand that learning about health and safety information is not the most exciting prospect for many people and so have included guidelines on this aspect of your company's procedures, which will hopefully allow you to keep your staff informed of all the latest regulations in the most efficient manner possible. For warehouse and factory staff, the correct methods for manual handling, working at height and use of the right protective equipment where applicable are some of the most important areas of learning that you will need to involve them in, and our product will help with the provision of training aids in these and other subjects. Being aware of fire risks and the appropriate action to take in the event of a fire breaking out is of course important in any environment and one that is covered in detail by our software. For future reference you may print out relevant sections and create your own health and safety manual for staff to refer to when necessary. Our product will also help you to design an effective induction course for all new employees.

Record keeping

It is necessary for any business to keep accurate records of training and any policies in place for several reasons. The obvious one is that if you happen to be audited you can show that your company is in compliance with all the relevant regulations and have taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety of your staff and visitors at all times. Apart from this, you will want to be sure that every member of staff has been trained in the appropriate areas, are kept up to date with regular refresher courses and informed of new legislation as it is introduced. With the help of our health and safety software, you will always be aware of the current state of knowledge of all employees and any outstanding tasks that need to be completed. If you wish, after successful completion of training in the subjects relevant to each employee, you may print out certificates for them to keep. There are also legal requirements with regard to the records you are obliged to keep and this paperwork can be completed on your computer and then stored or printed out for your future reference. Our product will make you aware of all the documentation requirements for your particular business, so you need not worry about non-compliance in any areas. Having taken all the necessary steps to ensure that you are doing everything you should, this part of the system is designed to take the hassle out of record keeping for the health and safety at work act, and make it easy to refer to any section whenever you wish. As an interactive resource you will find it very simple to locate the subjects of interest to you and will be directed toward the documentation that is relevant to the task at hand.

Your constant companion

We have designed our product not as a one time learning experience, but as a constant companion to help you with your obligations in this area. It has been produced to be as user friendly as possible and the information contained in the software has been written by experts with over twenty years experience in the field. Because of the constantly changing nature of government regulations, annual updates are available to make sure that you are always kept up to date with the latest rules. Although there are various health and safety online resources that you can refer to, the fact that our publication has been produced by highly experienced consultants, means that you can be sure you are getting accurate information. We also have a membership option available which as well as regular updates, includes access to a technical helpline should you need any assistance. We have made the ordering process as simple as possible, but if you require any help or have any questions regarding our product then please do not hesitate to contact us, either by using the enquiry form on our site or by calling a member of our sales team on the number provided. All our staff are fully trained and will do their best to assist you in any way possible. We firmly believe that out software is the best available and both easier to use and more comprehensive than any health and safety booklet produced. As you may download it directly from the site, there is no long waiting period after you have placed your order. Our secure payment facility helps to protect your data and we do not sell your information to third parties. We are proud of our service and do our best to maintain our excellent reputation at all times.

Related Link

• Occupational Safety and Health