Health and Safety for Small Businesses

The main health and safety legislation in the UK is the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, supported by a range of regulations including the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The core duties are:

• General duty of care: Ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety, and welfare of all employees
• Safe workplace: Provide and maintain safe premises, equipment, and systems of work
• Safe substances: Ensure safe handling, storage, and transport of substances
• Supervision and training: Provide adequate information, instruction, training, and supervision
• Welfare: Maintain welfare facilities (toilets, washing facilities, rest areas) that meet minimum legal standards

Businesses also owe duties to non-employees — customers, visitors, contractors, and members of the public who may be affected by their work. Self-employed people similarly have duties towards others who may be affected by their work.

A risk assessment is a systematic process of identifying hazards in your workplace and evaluating the risk they pose. The Management Regulations require employers to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. For businesses with five or more employees, the significant findings must be written down.

The HSE's five-step approach:

• Step 1 — Identify hazards: Look around your workplace and identify what could cause harm (slippery floors, heavy machinery, hazardous chemicals, manual handling, lone working, stress)
• Step 2 — Who might be harmed and how: Consider employees, young workers, pregnant workers, contractors, visitors, and customers
• Step 3 — Evaluate risks and decide on controls: Is the risk currently controlled? What more can you do? Apply the hierarchy of controls: eliminate the hazard; substitute it; isolate people from it; implement engineering or administrative controls; use PPE as a last resort
• Step 4 — Record your findings: Write down the significant hazards, who is at risk, and the controls in place
• Step 5 — Review and update: Review the assessment when circumstances change (new equipment, new processes, accident reports)

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) require employers, the self-employed, and people in control of premises to report certain work-related incidents to the HSE.

You must report:

• Deaths of workers or non-workers arising from a work-related accident
• Specified injuries to workers — including fractures (other than fingers/thumbs/toes), amputations, permanent loss of sight, crush injuries causing internal organ damage, burns, scalping, or loss of consciousness
• Over-7-day incapacitation — where a worker is absent or unable to do their normal work for more than 7 consecutive days (not counting the day of the accident)
• Injuries to non-workers (e.g. customers, visitors) that are serious enough to require hospital treatment
• Occupational diseases — such as carpal tunnel syndrome, hand-arm vibration syndrome, or occupational dermatitis
• Dangerous occurrences — near misses that could have caused death or serious injury

Report via the HSE website or by calling the RIDDOR reporting line (0345 300 9923). Keep your own record of all workplace accidents and incidents, not just those that meet the RIDDOR threshold.

Under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, all businesses that employ anyone (other than close family members in a family business) must have employers' liability insurance. The minimum coverage required is £5 million, though most policies provide £10 million or more.

You must:

• Display your current employers' liability insurance certificate at your workplace (or make it available for inspection electronically)
• Keep copies of certificates for 40 years (to cover long-latency diseases such as mesothelioma)

Failure to have valid employers' liability insurance is a criminal offence. The HSE can fine businesses up to £2,500 per day for failure to hold the required insurance.

In addition to employers' liability insurance, you should consider:

• Public liability insurance — covers claims from members of the public injured on your premises or through your business activities (not legally required but very strongly recommended)
• Product liability insurance — if you manufacture or supply products