Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 all employers and self-employed persons are required to prepare a Safety Statement for their business outlining how they safeguard themselves, their employees, their customers and other stakeholders at the workplace.
Specific requirements for the safety statement include:
- specify how the safety and health of all employees will be secured and managed
- specify the hazards identified and risks assessed
- give details of how the employer is going to manage his or her safety and health responsibilities, including a commitment to comply with legal obligations, the protective and preventive measures taken, the resources provided for safety and health at the workplace and the arrangements used to fulfil these responsibilities
- include the plans and procedures to be used in the event of an emergency or serious danger
- specify the duties of employees, including the co-operation required from them on safety and health matters
- include the names and job titles of people appointed to be responsible for safety and health or for performing the tasks set out in the statement
- contain the arrangements made for appointing safety representatives, and for consulting with and the participation by employees on safety and health matters, including the names of the safety representatives and the members of the safety committee, if appointed
- be written in a form, manner and language that will be understood by all
- include a review mechanism
- have regard to the relevant safety and health legislation
Safety statements must be developed by competent persons and the relevant elements of the statement must be communicated to all staff affected by it. Statements must be reviewed on an on-going basis to ensure that they remain relevant, applicable and compliant with current legislation and they should be re-communicated at least annually to employees, or more frequently if required.
Many insurance companies are insisting that their business customers provide safety statements as part of the insurance quotation and renewal process.
We focus on preparing detailed and company specific, practical and workable statements for our clients across all industries and we ensure that our clients have a full understanding of their obligations under H&S legislation.
