Creativebias Helpsheet: Health and Safety for New Businesses

Health and Safety for new businesses

Health and Safety laws exist to protect people - including yourself - from being harmed or made ill by their jobs or anything in their work environment. Matters relating to Health and Safety are controlled by a part of the Government called the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Even if you work alone, in your own home, or in other people's premises there are rules that you must observe. The HSE estimate that the costs that employers have to pay because of injuries at work are around £300 million every year. Safer and more efficient working practices can save your business money as well as protecting the health of your workers.

"Health and Safety is everyone's responsibility. The penalties for getting it wrong are high, so make sure you regularly visit the HSE website."

Tania M. C. Lewis, Creativebias Personal Business Adviser

This guide is intended as a basic introduction to Health and Safety issues. Every business is different, and you will need to contact the HSE to ensure that you are doing everything you should to comply with Health and Safety laws. The HSE Infoline is 0845 345 0055, and the web address is www.hse.gov.uk.

The HSE offers lots of help and advice for small businesses that are just starting up. The small business section of the HSE website (www.hse.gov.uk/smallbusinesses) will help you to understand your responsibilities for keeping people safe and healthy - whether they are your staff, customers or members of the public.

The HSE lists ten things that you have to do when you start up in business.

Ten things you must do when starting a business:

1. As a new business you may need to register either with the HSE or your Local Authority, depending on the type of business you have. If you will be working with harmful substances or in a hazardous industry you may need to apply for a licence before you start to operate. Harmful substances could include things like paints, thinners and other solvents, or anything that generates harmful fumes like glues and aerosol sprays. Contact the HSE for more advice.

2. Consider what might be harmful to people and decide what precautions you will take to protect them. This is your Risk Assessment. The HSE lists five steps for doing a Risk Assessment:

1 - Identify any hazards. A hazard is anything that may cause harm, such as a wet floor or an electrical appliance.

2 - Decide who might be harmed and how.

3 - Assess the risk. Risk is the chance that someone may be harmed by a hazard, however big or small that chance. Take appropriate action to remove risks or reduce them as far as possible.

4 - Record the findings and your actions taken to minimise risk.

5 - Check the risks from time to time and take further steps if needed.

"Risk assessment is the key to effective management of health and safety and is a legal requirement."

Health and Safety Executive - www.hse.gov.uk/smallbusinesses/must/ra.htm

3. Create a Health and Safety Policy describing how you will manage the risks you have identified. This must be in writing if you have five or more employees. Your Health and Safety Policy tells employees about procedures that they must follow to keep everybody safe and healthy. It describes who is responsible for what, and when and how they carry out their duties. Your Risk Assessment will form part of your Health and Safety policy.

"The policy should be specific to your business, and should be clear about arrangements and organisation for health and safety at work. It should influence all your activities, including the selection of people, equipment and materials, the way work is done and how you design goods and services."

Health and Safety Executive - www.hse.gov.uk/smallbusinesses/must/policy.htm

There are some useful templates in the back of leaflet INDG259 (An Introduction to Health and Safety: Health and Safety in Small Businesses) which can be requested by telephone or downloaded from the HSE website.

4. You are responsible for the health and safety of your employees. If you employ anyone you must have Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI), and you must display the insurance certificate in the workplace. ELCI ensures that, if any of your employees ever has reason to try and claim against you because of an accident or illness caused by their job, you have the money to compensate them fairly. Although insurance will help you meet the costs of an accident or illness claim, it will not cover all the costs to your business. It probably won't cover costs like time lost dealing with an incident or wages for a replacement member of staff.

Your insurer must be authorised to offer ELCI, so check that they are before you take out insurance with them. The Financial Services Authority keeps a register of authorised insurers. Have a look on www.fsa.gov.uk or call them on 020 7676 1000 to find out which companies are authorised to offer you ECLI.

By law, the minimum cover specified for ELCI is £5 million. You may wish to take out a higher amount of cover depending on the nature of your work. If a serious claim is made against you and you don't have enough insurance, your business could be bankrupted by the cost.

5. Display a poster in your workplace showing Health and Safety Law, or give your employees leaflets containing the same information.

6. Provide free Health and Safety training for staff, within their normal work time, so they know how to work safely and what to do in an emergency.

7. Take advice from a competent helper on Health and Safety practices to make sure you are meeting your responsibilities. This could be yourself (if you know enough), someone who works for you (if they know enough), or an external advisor.

8. You must meet employees' basic health, safety and welfare needs - for example by providing toilets, washing facilities and drinking water, which must all be accessible to disabled people. You can provide mixed sex facilities as long as there are individual cubicles which are lockable from the inside.

9. Consult employees on Health and Safety issues to create a safe and healthy working environment. They may know better than you do what hazards are present in the workplace.

10. Whether you are self-employed, an employer, or in charge of work premises, you must by law report certain accidents, illnesses and dangerous occurrences. This is so that the Government has a clear overview of serious dangers to the health of the country's workers, in order to keep Health and Safety laws up-to-date.

You can find more information about each of the points listed above on www.hse.gov.uk/smallbusinesses/must.htm. The HSE also has a range of publications available through their website or by calling the Infoline which include sample assessments and real life examples to help you work through your legal requirements.

Public Liability Insurance

You may wish to consider taking out Public Liability Insurance (PLI). Unlike ELCI, this insurance is not compulsory, but it is recommended as it will protect you against any claims made against you by other businesses or members of the public. PLI is especially important if you invite members of the public onto your premises, or if you operate in premises owned by someone else e.g. if you put on a fashion show or live entertainment. Do not assume you are covered by the venue's insurance. This is especially important if your own equipment could be directly responsible for an injury.

"Don't assume that someone else will carry the financial and legal burden if an accident or breakage occurs. If you are using a venue, insist on seeing their liability certificate. Better that both parties are insured than neither."

Tania M. C. Lewis, Creativebias Personal Business Adviser

Important Facts and Points to Ponder

Even when using your home as your workplace, you must still carry out a risk assessment. You should also make sure that your insurance provider is aware that you are running a business from your home, and that you are adequately covered.

The commonest injuries at work are caused by slips and trips. Make sure the workplace is clean, tidy and well-lit. Use clear signs if, for example, your floor is slippery or you are obstructing a passageway of any kind. If you spill anything, make sure you know how to deal with the spilt material and how to keep people safe from harm that could be caused by the spill.

Asbestos is a controlled substance because it can be very harmful to health. If you come across asbestos in any form whilst at work, always seek professional help to contain and minimise any contamination of your workplace.

Chemicals and hazardous substances include things like materials you make or work with, cleaning materials, dust, fumes and bacteria. Exposure to these substances can happen by breathing them in, splashing them onto the skin or into the eyes, or swallowing them. Exposure must be carefully controlled or prevented, as stated in the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 and related laws.

Special laws apply to your business if any of the substances you work with are flammable or explosive. Besides obvious fire hazards such as heating fuels and paint thinners, you also need to consider less obvious risks such as dust, vapours and even packing materials.

Exposure to noise at work can damage the hearing and cause deafness. If you have to shout to have a normal conversation with someone because of the noise, you may need to use ear protection for yourself and any employees you have.

Electricity is another major risk. Electric shocks can injure or kill, but good working practices will minimise this risk. You should check all your appliances regularly to make sure they are kept in good working order, and the equipment you use should be suitable for the environment you use it in, e.g. dustproof or waterproof.

Strains and sprains are common, especially where workers have to lift and carry loads. Make sure everyone is familiar with how to lift and carry safely, to avoid complaints like Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).

Staff workstations must be well lit and ventilated and comfortable to use, so that problems like back pain and arm strain do not occur. Computer monitors and other types of VDUs must not be used for more than two hours without a break, to avoid eye strain.

It is important to minimise stress in the workplace, caused for example by overwork or underwork, poorly defined boundaries of responsibility, or bullying and harassment.

Health and Safety is focused on preventing accidents and ill health, but injuries in the workplace do occur. Knowing what to do in an emergency can save lives. With first aid you can provide immediate assistance to anyone who is ill or injured. At the very least, you must have a fully stocked first aid box that is appropriate to your work conditions, and someone to take charge of first aid arrangements.

Besides protecting yourself, your staff and other people from harm, all these measures will help to minimise the amount of sick leave taken by your employees, which will in turn increase productivity and save your business money. For more information, contact the HSE or speak to your Creativebias Personal Business Adviser.

© 2006 MDA Ltd