What are the main Health & Safety Regulations for Business?

What are the main health and safety regulations?

Legally, employers are considered responsible for business health and safety regulations and management. They must do whatever is reasonably practicable to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees.

If you are an employer, you must ensure all risks to health and safety are appropriately controlled. You should do so by following these health and safety regulations:

1. Carry out a risk assessment which involves deciding on the potential harms your employees face at work, and which precautions you should follow to protect them. You need to identify existing hazards in the workplace, establish the significance of the risk, identify and implement prevention and control measures, and produce a clear management plan.
2. Explain how workplace risks will be controlled and communicate who is responsible for controlling them.
3. Consult and work with your employees and health and safety officers to protect your team from harm.
4. Provide appropriate health and safety training for yourself and your employees.
5. Provide staff with any equipment or protective clothing needed to complete their jobs safely.
6. Provide toilets, washing facilities and drinking water.
7. Provide adequate first aid facilities.
8. Report major injuries, fatalities, diseases and dangerous incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
9. Have insurance that covers employees who get hurt or ill through work.

If you employ a team of five or more you must have a written health and safety policy statement, setting out how you manage health and safety regulations at work. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 contains a more in-depth look at health and safety legislation.

Health and Safety Legal Advice

Health and safety legislation is highly detailed. Having the knowledge and understanding of the various duties and criminal offences created by health and safety legislation is essential to every business operating in England and Wales.

Employers of businesses and organisations must be aware of business health and safety regulations. In addition, they must be aware of their duties and the liabilities that may follow a breach of applicable duty.

It’s advisable to seek health and safety legal advice if you need help with business health and safety regulations. Criminal health and safety law is one of St Pauls Chambers’ key strengths. The highly experienced barristers at St Pauls Chambers provide a full range of legal services for criminal health and safety law. These services include advising corporations on compliant business practice, investigatory and pre-charge advice, and advocacy services from the Magistrates Court through to the Crown Court, High Court and Court of Appeal.

For health and safety legal advice, please get in touch with our experienced team who are here to help.