A guide to health and safety policy review for businesses

Whether you operate on a construction site or in an office, threats to your employees can be around every corner. That’s why reviewing your health and safety policy regularly is a must, so that your employees are less likely to get injured and feel safer coming into the workplace.

In 2021/22 there were 565,000 workplace injuries which show just how prevalent these accidents can be. A common cause of these injuries includes slips, trips and falls, improperly lifting objects and being struck by a moving object. These are all damages that may have been preventable with the correct health and safety guidelines.

So, whether you have an existing health and safety policy or you’re a new business creating one for the first time, this article may be able to help. This includes some of the basic things you need to do to ensure it’s successful and keeps your staff safe when they enter your place of work. Read on to find out more.

When should your health and safety policy be reviewed?

This policy needs to be updated regularly to revise health and safety guidance alongside changes to your workplace. Examples of these changes include implementing new equipment that can be dangerous or after a worker is injured on-site. This will let you assess the potential dangers and prevent them from happening again in the future.

If nothing changes on your site, then it’s still worth reviewing your health and safety policy once a year to make sure it’s as airtight as possible.

Adopting new processes and equipment

New ways of working or fresh equipment on your site may bring potential hazards. Training will be required for all of your staff for this to ensure proper use and you’ll need to assess whether PPE like hi-vis clothing is needed when working.

Location changes

If you’ve moved to a new office or construction site, then there may be new dangers that will need to be highlighted in your health and safety policy. You should review the policy before any workers come in for the first time. Therefore, we recommend doing a risk assessment and informing your employees of potential threats to look out for when they enter the new workspace.

Following an accident

If an accident occurs in your workplace, then a review is needed. An injury to a staff member will indicate that there is an issue with the policy and therefore must be changed. This issue could be a risk that hasn’t been properly highlighted, improper training of the hazards or a new threat that hasn’t been picked up on yet. Learn how to write your health and safety policy now and ensure your workplace is as safe as can be for employees that rely on your leadership.