Health and Safety Overview

Every business has a legal responsibility to comply with certain health and safety rules. These regulations are designed to protect people who are affected by your business activities including:

• employees working in the office, at home or on site
• visitors to business premises including customers and suppliers
• visitors to other places where you conduct business, such as a construction site
• members of the public
• any users of products or services you supply.

A business must carry out a risk assessment of any hazards. A policy to deal with these dangers must then be created and put in writing if there are five or more employees.

Other relevant rules to comply with include:

• recording and reporting accidents
• consultation with employees
• training and education of employees to ensure they understand and comply with the company policy on health and safety
• registration with the Health & Safety Executive, if certain conditions apply
• holding appropriate employers liability insurance.

There are specific environmental rules that businesses must adhere to in terms of health and safety. You must:

• store and dispose of waste correctly
• avoid behaving as a statutory nuisance by producing noise, fumes, light etc
• comply with any registration and practices relevant to trade effluent
• adhere to compliance and registration rules for packaging if turnover is more than £2million per year
• Comply with restrictions on the use of hazardous substances.

Health and safety rules are enforced by the Health & Safety Executive or the local authority. Further information can be found at the Health & Safety Executive website at http://www.hse.gov.uk or by telephoning the helpline number on 0845 345 0055.

Related Clickdocs documents

• Health and Safety Policy - a policy document that sets out how health and safety issues are managed within an organisation

More information

• Insurance - information on the types of insurance relevant to small business