10 Health & Safety Tips for Small and New Businesses

When setting up a business, or managing a small one, it can be easy to overlook the health & safety basics. To ensure you’re not caught off guard, follow these top tips:

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10 Top Health & Safety Tips

1. Write a H&S policy (or statement of intent)

If you have five or more staff you need to produce a Policy Statement and the policy should outline who the responsible person is, the arrangements for securing health & safety of workers.

The duties of managers and supervisors and their responsibilities and that staff have received adequate information, instruction, training and supervision, along with completion of suitable and sufficient Risk Assessments for all activities undertaken at work.

2. Have you completed a Fire Risk Assessment?

Under the Regulatory Fire Safety Order 2005 (RRFSO 2005) it is a requirement for businesses and commercial premises to complete Fire Risk Assessments of the area of buildings they occupy and ensure suitable means of detection, fire-fighting equipment and alarms are installed.

3. Are there Trained Fire Marshals or Wardens on site?

To further support the Fire Risk Assessment a number of trained staff should be responsible to evacuate staff and visitors in the event of an emergency (which may not just be a fire).

4. Have you completed a First Aid Needs Risk Assessment?

The first needs assessment demonstrates to the HSE or the Local Authority (LA) inspector that a company has considered their first aid and decided what requirements are required.

5. When was the fixed wiring inspected?

It is a legal requirement for commercial premises to have their fixed wiring installation inspected and tested periodically by a competent and qualified electrician (usually accredited and working to the British Standard BS 7671).

6. Do you have any Gas appliances?

If you have any gas appliances such as cookers or boilers you must have them checked at least annually be a Gas Safe Contractor.

7. Are there any small electrical items that are in use?

Employers need to ensure that all electrical equipment used at work is safe for staff to operate and one way to check the safety is to complete Portable Appliance Testing, a local electrician will simply check equipment and label to confirm it is safe and provide a review date for re-inspection.

8. Do users complete a Display Screen Equipment Risk Assessment?

If your staff use computers it is likely they will need to complete a DSE risk assessment to ensure they are seated correctly with relevant adjustments made to reduce the risk of RSI Repetitive Strain Injury or WRULDs (Work Related Upper Limb Disorders) at work.

9. Have Manual Handling Assessments and Training been provided to staff?

There are specific duties for an employer to ensure that appropriate assessments of tasks and work activities have been completed to both reduce the risk of injury to workers and be compliant with legislation, where possible mechanical handling aids such as a trolley should be provided.

10. Is there any lifting equipment used?

Where lifting equipment is used, there are specific requirements under LOLER (The Lifting and Lowering Equipment Regulations) whereby equipment should be inspected and tested for equipment the lifts people, a hoist or a passenger lift for example, would need to be inspected every 6 months and Forklift every 12 months.

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