Health and Safety in the Workplace: Who is Responsible?
Every organisation in the UK has a range of health and safety requirements they must follow, as set out by national law. The first question organisations often ask when assessing their health and safety practices, is who is responsible for what? In this post, we’ll discuss the health and safety requirements of UK organisations, and who is responsible for health and safety in the workplace. We’ll also provide you with guidance on how to fulfil these responsibilities and how, with health and safety training, you can keep everyone in your workplace happy and healthy.
Who is responsible for health and safety in the workplace?
Employers are the ones responsible for health and safety in the workplace. This means that, should there be an accident, injury or other incident in the workplace, that the employer and organisation is the one responsible for it.
If you’re an employer and starting to panic (no, you don’t have to have memorised health and safety law!), don’t worry! While an employer is responsible for workplace health and safety, and should have some familiarity with health and safety legislation, they don’t have to be an expert, or the one enforcing safety legislation directly. Instead, it’s the employer's responsibility to delegate health and safety responsibilities to those with proper training and qualifications. That means nominating the right people, such as Health and Safety Advisors, Managers and other senior staff, to handle certain safety responsibilities. It also means putting in place health and safety systems to monitor practices and collect data to improve them, helping everyone stay safe.
If at this point you’re still panicking, take a deep breath (and count to 10) and read on. We’ll guide you through all of your safety responsibilities, as well as those of your employees.
What law is in place to ensure workplace health and safety?
The UK has a number of health and safety laws that set out that impact the health and safety practices of organisations. However, it is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 which sets out most of the legal responsibilities employers have to fulfil. It outlines the duties employers have to employees and the public, those employees have to themselves and their colleagues, and those self-employed people have towards themselves and others.
How can employers and employees take responsibility for their role in workplace health and safety?
Taking responsibility for your workplace health and safety practices starts with knowing what the law requires you to do. And that doesn’t mean using procedures and proper safety practices for a week before forgetting about them- this is no New Year’s Resolution! By being vocal about health and safety and rewarding proper practices, you can create a workplace where health and safety is a valuable piece of the puzzle, instead of the one you dropped down the side of the sofa while trying to finish the jigsaw.
In the next section we’ll break down the responsibilities of both employers and employees, so you know what elements of safety are down to you in the workplace.
Employer responsibilities
Under UK law, employers have a range of health and safety responsibilities to individuals on their premises, whether they be working, visiting or members of the public.
Appointing a Competent Person
Every organisation needs to appoint a competent person to advise on and assist the organisation in achieving their health and safety goals. This person usually possesses health and safety training or qualifications, such as the NEBOSH General Certificate, giving them the expertise needed to deliver effective safety advice.
If your workplace doesn’t have a competent person, you have two options:
The first is to hire some or train up a member of your team to be your competent person. We recommend these individuals begin with the NEBOSH General Certificate. It covers the key occupational safety knowledge needed to advise on safety issues and can be studied in just 9 days at venues across the UK. The course is also available entirely online, making it quick and convenient to get a member of your team trained.
The second is to get someone else to do it, as your competent person doesn’t have to be a member of your organisation! You can instead bring in a safety expert as a consultant, who can advise on safety practices and help you develop procedure and policy. At Phoenix we offer this service to our Annual Support clients, providing a range of Consultancy Services including risk assessments, policy creation and a monthly newsletter. With us as your named ‘competent person’, you can say goodbye to safety worries and sleep well with advice from the experts.
Creating a Health and Safety Policy
A health and safety policy is a key document that outlines how an organisation will cater to the health and safety of its members. This includes a statement of intent, which sets out your health and safety objectives, as well as how you will handle many of the responsibilities outlined in this list. As an employer it’s your responsibility to create this policy alongside key stakeholders and safety experts. It should be made accessible for all employees too, so that they can review it when needed and check their own individual responsibilities.
Training Staff
Employers have a duty to provide the members of their organisation with effective health and safety training. This includes giving them the information to carry out work safely, with proper supervision. If you’re unsure what health and safety courses the members of your organisation need to take, consider their daily activities. Tasks such as manual handling, working at height or at a computer for long periods of time, all come with safety recommendations and guidance to make sure injury doesn’t occur. Training courses such as IOSH Working Safely and IOSH Managing Safely cover more general elements of safety that are nonetheless key, for workers and managers respectively.
If you need guidance or advice on which courses will be right for your organisation, speak to a member of our team today and they’ll be happy to help however they can.
Risk Assessments
Although they may not be the one carrying them out, another safety responsibility of employers is to ensure risk assessments are conducted in the workplace. Risk assessments are pivotal to the success of any organisation’s safety practices, as they allow hazards to be identified and control measures to be suggested, reducing workplace risk. Assessments should be conducted regularly and always documented, and they should also be carried out whenever there are major changes in the workplace. These changes could be new recruits, new equipment, or after an accident has taken place.
Usually, the organisation’s competent person conducts or oversees risk assessments. However, if you have a large organisation or multiple sites, it can be beneficial to have a number of people trained to perform risk assessments.
Managers are common choices to provide risk assessment training to, as they will already be looking out for the safety and well-being of their team. The most popular safety course for managers, IOSH Managing Safely, covers risk assessment training. Its content also includes information on health and safety legislation, the safety responsibilities of managers, and how they can effectively keep their team safe in the workplace. The course takes just 3 days of Classroom or Virtual Classroom delivery and is also available entirely online.
We also offer a separate risk assessment training course, which can be studied online in just 90 minutes. The course offers a step-by-step breakdown of how to conduct effective risk assessments, perfect for training any member of the team in the skill.
Implementing Health and Safety Control Measures
Going hand in hand with risk assessments, it's also the responsibility of the employer to implement health and safety control measures. Put simply, these are strategies used to reduce the risk of accidents. They can take many forms, including barriers, protective guards, and PPE. The goal of these safety measures is to reduce workplace risk as much as reasonably practicable. That means you have to use control measures reasonably, so getting workers to wear PPE when operating machinery, and not when they're using the hob, even if it does get hot! By conducting risk assessments, organisations can identify the level of risk hazards pose, and where safety measures will be needed.
First Aid
First aid is another key safety responsibility for employers, as UK legislation outlines the need to have a stocked first aid box and a designated person to carry out first aid. It’s also a requirement that employees are aware of the first aid arrangements.
Providing Welfare Facilities
Another element of workplace health and safety is giving everyone access to proper welfare facilities. These include somewhere to eat and rest, as well as a place to store clothes. Though it also includes things you may think are too obvious to miss, such as toilets and handwashing facilities.
There are also requirements which apply to the workplace as a whole. These include having a workplace which has:
Good ventilation
A reasonable working temperature
Suitable lighting for the work taking place
Suitable workstations and enough space to carry out work
A clean and safe working environment
Floors and traffic routes free from obstructions
Easily opened windows
Report Accidents and Illnesses
Under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations), employers are required to report workplace injuries, near-misses and work-related diseases to the HSE.
Additionally, if your organisation has 10 members or more, you need to keep a record of workplace accidents. These can help you identify common causes of accidents and keep your workplace safe.
Display the Law Poster
Whether it be on the wall in your office or as a leaflet handed out to employees, another responsibility of the employer is to display the UK Health and Safety Law poster in the workplace. It helps educate and remind all members of an organisation about both their safety responsibilities and the employers.
Consulting Workers
In several of the points above, we’ve mentioned the importance of keeping the members of your team in the loop when making decisions around health and safety. That means keeping them up to date on health and safety procedures and systems, but also asking for their input in the decision-making process. These will be the people needing to follow the procedure after all, and your employees may provide useful insights that can help you improve practices.
Employee responsibilities
While the employer may be the one ultimately responsible for health and safety in the workplace, that doesn’t mean employees don’t also have safety responsibilities. These include:
Following the Health and Safety Policy
The first major safety responsibility of employees is to follow the health and safety policy put in place by their employers. This includes all aspects of the policy, including following safety and evacuation procedures, attending training sessions and following the law.
Taking care of yourself, both mentally and physically
While it may not seem like a ‘responsibility’, it is also a requirement that employees look after themselves. That means not pushing themselves if they have an injury, taking any actions that put them at risk of having an accident, and speaking up if they need assistance or support. The last thing employers want is members of their team getting ill or injured, and the last thing employees want is to be unwell.
Reporting accidents and injuries
If an incident occurs, even if it is a near miss and no one was injured, it is the responsibility of employees to report them to a designated person. This is usually their manager or an individual with health and safety responsibilities. By reporting incidents, employees can help their organisation identify health and safety issues and keep the workplace safe.
Employers should encourage employees to speak up, even if a minor incident occurs, as whatever caused it could lead to another incident. Having an open and positive health and safety culture is one of the best ways to encourage employees to speak up. It means they won’t fear punishment if they've made a mistake, or are embarrassed because they’re ‘exaggerating’ a near-miss incident where no one got hurt. To develop a positive health and safety culture you need strong leadership skills and health and safety knowledge. At Phoenix, we offer the NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Leadership Excellence, which covers everything leaders need to know about health and safety for their role. It also covers how, through leading by example, they can create a positive health and safety culture and encourage all employees to take health and safety seriously. The course can be studied in just one day and is also available entirely online.
Raising safety concerns
And finally, employees should be vocal about their safety concerns. This includes if they spot a workplace hazard, and if they have any suggestions for safety practices and procedures. By speaking up, employees provide their organisation with the information they need to keep everyone safe.
Fulfilling your Health and Safety Responsibilities
Now that you know what your health and safety responsibilities are, the next step is knowing how best to fulfil them. This starts with having the knowledge and skills to create a health and safety policy, conduct risk assessments and lead your team effectively. At Phoenix, we offer a range of health and safety courses to help you train yourself and your team to do just this! Our selection of IOSH courses cater to individuals at all levels of the business, while our NEBOSH qualifications offer expertise for those with safety responsibilities, such as your organisation’s ‘competent person’ or head of safety.
If you want free guidance on which courses will be best for your organisation and its needs, contact a member of our team today and they'll be happy to help.