We all want our activities and services to be safe for everyone. Below is a summary of the main issues to think through to make sure this is the case. It covers:
- Staff/Volunteers Information and Training
- First Aid, Accidents and Illness
- Health and Safety Policy
- Risk Assessments
All employers have a legal duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their staff and volunteers. You need to provide a working environment that is healthy and safe for everyone in the workplace, including those with disabilities. As an employer, you must protect your employees and others by as a minimum:
- Identifying what could cause injury or illness at work (hazards)
- Assessing how likely it is someone could be harmed (the risk)
- Taking action to eliminate or control risk
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recognises that your approach to health and safety should fit the size and nature of your organisation and the risks involved in your work. You should have a health and safety policy and risk assessment(s) in place and, although these do not need to written down if you have less than five employees, it is useful for you do so.
Staff/Volunteers Information and Training
It is important to consult with all your staff/volunteers on health and safety, as they are often the best people to understand risks in the workplace. Involving them in making decisions shows that you take their health and safety seriously and that they have a say about managing health and safety.
You can do this by discussing:
- health and safety and the work they do
- how to control risks
- the best ways of providing information and training
You can consult with employees either individually or via representatives chosen by them. You should also appoint a competent person either internally or externally to oversee your health and safety. Competent person/representatives must be given reasonable training, paid time, facilities and help to fulfill their role.
Everyone who works for you needs to know how to work safely, including staff, volunteers, contractors and self-employed people. You must give your employees clear instructions and information and make sure that particular care is taken of new recruits, those changing jobs or taking on extra responsibilities.
Make sure everyone is given the right level of information on:
- hazards (things that could cause them harm)
- risks (the chances of harm occurring)
- measures in place to deal with these hazards and risks
- how to follow any emergency procedures
Think about how much training you need and ensure it is easy to understand so that everyone working for you knows what is expected of them. Training should take place during working hours and must be free for employees. Always check with your staff/volunteers that the training is relevant and keep training records to help you decide when/if refresher training is needed.
First Aid, Accidents and Emergencies
Employers must make sure staff/volunteers get immediate help if taken ill or injured at work.
As a minimum, you must have:
- a suitably stocked first aid box
- an appointed person to take charge of first aid arrangements
- information about first aid arrangements for all employees
Depending on your workplace, you may need more than this. See the HSE guidance on first aid for further information. Appoint a person to oversee your first aid, including looking after equipment, facilities and calling the emergency services. An appointed person must always be available when people are at work.
You must provide an accident book if you employ ten or more people or if your premises is a factory. Accident records must comply with the Data Protection Act and personal details must not be seen by anyone else e.g. by having tear-out pages or individual forms. You should display a health and safety law poster, an employer’s liability insurance certificate and ‘no smoking’ notices and exit signs in any buildings. An ‘action in the event of a fire’ procedure for fire safety is also needed if you have responsibility for your premises.
Health and Safety Policy
Your health and safety policy should set out your organisation’s approach to health and safety. It needs to clearly state who will do what, when and how to manage health and safety. Your most senior staff member should sign your policy and ensure it is reviewed regularly. The policy and any changes must be shared with your staff/volunteers and displayed in the workplace. All workers should be asked to sign that they have read and understood the policy.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommends that your policy has three parts:
- Statement of intent – Sets out your aims and commitment to managing health and safety at work.
- Responsibilities for health and safety – Lists the names, positions and roles of the people in your
organisation who have specific responsibility for health and safety.
- Arrangements for health and safety – Provides details of practical arrangements to achieve your health
and safety aims. This could include:
- codes of practice for staff/volunteer, visitor, beneficiary safety;
- welfare facilities;
- risk assessment procedures;
- hazard control;
- PPE provision;
- equipment inspection/maintenance/use;
- food hygiene;
- emergency and first aid procedures;
- monitoring, reporting and investigation arrangements;
- training/induction provision.
Cambridge CVS provides a useful template of a Health and Safety Policy for small groups without paid staff.
The HSE has an example Health and Safety Policy for an employer.
Risk Assessments
A risk assessment is used to help you identify what could cause harm to people so you can assess if you need to take further precautions. As an employer, you must assess risks to both employees and others who may be affected by their work activities. In particular the risks faced by lone workers, employees working from home and driving for business should be assessed. It is a legal requirement for you to undertake special risk assessments on those under 18 years old and any woman who is pregnant or breastfeeding.
The HSE provides a risk assessment template to help you keep a record of:
- who might be harmed and how
- what you are already doing to control the risks
- what further action you need to take to control the risks
- who needs to carry out the action
- when the action is needed by
See the HSE website for their Risk assessment: Template and examples – HSE.
Resources, Training and Support
You can contact the HSE to ask about health and safety issues.
Also, the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has further information about what VCSE organisations need for health and safety.
Disclaimer
We make every effort to ensure that our information is correct at the time of publication.
This is only intended as a brief summary of relevant issues and information. Legal advice should be sought where appropriate. The inclusion of other organisations in this information does not imply any endorsement of independent bodies, they are just for signposting purposes.
Voscur is unable to accept liability for any loss or damage or inconvenience arising as a consequence of the use of this information.
