It’s fairly common to hear the words ‘Occupational Health and Safety’ thrown around the workplace — usually in some form of meeting or official setting. It sounds like a fairly fancy term that can be generally self-explanatory. And yet, there is often a lot of confusion surrounding the topic. So, what exactly is it?
See Wise Monkey Occupational Health and Safety Training:
1.) What is Occupational Health and Safety?
Occupational Health and Safety is, simply put, the act of monitoring and ensuring the complete safety of employees within a workplace. The United Kingdom mandates that every workplace should meet certain health and safety criteria. Occupational Health and Safety is the avenue through which employers and business owners can meet these legal requirements
2.) Are You Required to Be Trained in Occupational Health and Safety?
The law requires that at least one person be trained in health and safety at every company that employees people. This same law cites that for the first 100 employees and below, one health and safety manager must be present and appointed at a minimum.
The health and safety manager is simply an employee who is assigned the task of ensuring that the employee workplace environment is safe for operations and does not pose a risk to the employees or customers. This job completely changes based on the workplace environment. For example, office health and safety managers have a very different job than that of their counterparts on construction sites.
This does not mean that every employee needs to be trained completely in health and safety protocols. However, the Health and Safety Act of 1974 does dictate that a few things must be adhered to:
- Proper training must be supplied to staff to ensure that they understand the health and safety procedures of the workplace.
- Proper welfare provisions must be provided at work (such as accommodations for basic needs).
- A safe working environment must be maintained at all times.
- Proper provisions are made for the implementation, instruction and distribution of health and safety information.
- A written health and safety policy must exist on file for any workplace with more than 5 employees.
3.) What Can You Do?
The most important thing is that you are always taking every reasonable step to ensure proper health and safety precautions are made for your employees. This requires a lot of expertise and planning. That’s where our team of health and safety experts comes in. At Wise Monkey, we ensure that all of West Yorkshire has access to proper Occupational Health and Safety.
We provide insight, materials, instruction and training for the business owners of West Yorkshire. Health and safety at the workplace is not only important, it’s the law. And we are here to get you and your business right on the health and safety track.
Looking to get your staff trained in Occupational Health and Safety at work? Get in contact with Wise Monkey H&S here.