Health and safety in your business
This Article was posted on 04.02.11 in Managing
Creating a healthy and safe work environment is not just about meeting your legal obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Health and Safety in Employment Act. It also helps to create a safer, happier and more productive work environment – this means your staff are likely to be more efficient and your business will be more profitable as a result.
What are your responsibilities as an employer?
There are a number of health and safety requirements that employers should be aware of, from how to identify and deal with hazards to the requirement of creating a safe and smoke-free work environment. You’ll need to find out what your legal requirements are to avoid being liable for fines or infringement fees, and consult with your staff on health and safety issues that concern them.
Dealing with hazards
Your business should have a formalised way of identifying all the hazards in your workplace and a clear plan on how to address these. If your business uses specialised machinery or potentially hazardous substances, the hazards might be easy to identify but it makes sense to list all the hazards and establish how best to deal with them, giving priority to hazards that have the potential to do the most harm and addressing these first.
Your target would be to eliminate any hazards that can be removed, and to either isolate or control access to hazards that can’t be removed because they are a necessary part of your business. Certain industry-specific hazards might also have additional requirements or responsibilities that employers need to address.
It is also necessary to record and investigate all accidents and near accidents to determine whether you’ve possibly overlooked a significant hazard and try to prevent further possible injuries. Employers need to notify the Department of Labour of any instances where “serious harm” was caused.
Protective gear
Employers are responsible for the provision of reasonable protective gear to employees who work with hazardous substances or machinery.
Emergency information
You need an emergency plan to manage all possible emergencies that could occur at work. Employers are required to provide their staff with clear information about what to do in an emergency. This information should be readily accessible and identify any potential hazards and where to find any emergency or safety equipment.
It’s a good idea to include a health and safety briefing as part of your induction programme for new staff and to provide ongoing training to ensure that health and safety procedures are followed and injuries are prevented. It is recommended practice to hold health and safety meetings for employees at least twice a year.
Employee responsibilities
Employees also bear some responsibility for health and safety in the workplace. They have a general duty of care to ensure their own safety at work and that their actions or inactions do not place others at risk. They’re also responsible for wearing any protective equipment that is provided and for advising management of any health and safety issues when they arise.
Training and injury prevention
Every employer is required to provide appropriate health and safety training for their staff. This includes:
- Knowledge of the specific hazards and issues they’ll be exposed to.
- Training in the use of relevant safety equipment.
- Emergency procedures.
- Health and safety procedures.
The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has a couple of WorkSafe programmes that teach employees about safe working cycles, how to avoid injuries and what actions to take if an injury occurs. Find out more about training for health and safety representatives or access a list of approved training providers.
Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC)
Employers are required to provide all employees with ACC cover for work related injuries. The levies paid by the employer will depend on the amount of wages paid and the type of business you run. Small businesses in certain industry groups, which meet certain conditions, can also apply for a discount. Find out more about the ACC and the different ACC levies, or calculate your levies online.
Restrictions
There are health and safety restrictions that prevent the employment of young people under the age to 15 to do hazardous work and people under the age of 16 to do work between 10 in the evening and 6 in the morning.
It is also worth noting that your business will carry certain health and safety responsibilities for contractors, sub-contractors, volunteer workers and people doing work experience.
Planning a safer work environment
While it is not a legal requirement, it is best practice to develop a documented health and safety plan that you review and update on a regular basis, and to include health and safety as a regular agenda item at senior management meetings.
Planning for a safer work environment can be done by: identifying the hazards, deciding how best to minimise the hazards, and putting plans in place to communicate and achieve these objectives.
Identify hazards
When identifying hazards and how to deal with them, it is a good idea to review how you treat your premises, people, and procedures (including production and substance handling). You can also use the Department of Labour’s handy Hazard Handler tool or download this guide to help you identify any potential hazards in your workplace.
Decide how best to minimise risks
Once you’ve identified the hazards, the next step is to decide how best to minimise the risks. Have a look at the following guides for more information on using machinery and equipment safely, dealing with hazardous substances, noise and working safely in risky situations.
Making your plan work
One you have identified how you want to address the health and safety risks in your business, you’ll need to draw up a strategic plan and break it down into achievable milestones or steps, with deadlines, so that you can track the implementation and progress. This guide gives useful information on how to manage health and safety in your business.
It is important to communicate these plans to your staff, to do test runs to see if the plans work, and to iron out any problems you identify. It is also important to review your plans once every six months or year and to test your emergency procedures periodically.
Keeping a log of incidents and accidents will also help to identify problem areas and establish whether your plans are working effectively.
Next Steps
- Read this guide on what you need to know about health and safety or contact the Department of Labour on 0800 20 90 20 for more information.
- Work through the information on How to meet your health and safety obligations.
- Identify risks and hazards in your workplace.
- Develop plans to deal with these, in consultation with your employees, and ensure that everyone knows what is required of them. Provide training if necessary.
- For more detailed information, access the Blue Guide to the Health and Safety in Employment Act.
Content provided by The Small Business Company
