Health and Safety Policy

A health and safety policy will set out how your community group or organisation has agreed to manage health and safety. It sends a clear message to your staff and volunteers that you are committed to making their working environment safe and healthy.

If you have five or more employees, your community group/organisation is legally required to adopt a written Health and Safety policy. If your group has less than five staff, your committee (or board) members still have a legal responsibility to provide a safe and healthy working environment, and it is best practice to adopt a Health and Safety policy.

The daily experience of your staff and volunteers will be a valuable contribution to the policy. Involving them in your Risk Assessment and in the development of the policy will also help them to understand their role in health and safety issues.

What to include in your Health and Safety policy

Your Health and Safety policy should be set out in such a way that it makes it clear to everyone what is expected of them to comply with the requirements of the policy. If your group is small your policy can be a simple statement.

The aims of your policy should be linked to the level of risk which you have identified in your Risk Assessment.

The policy should also contain proactive measures to help build and maintain a healthy and positive workforce.