Health & Safety
Health & Safety law requires employers to look after the health, safety and welfare of their employees. They must also consider others who could be affected by their work, for example clients, contractors and visitors to their premises.
Employers also have a duty to identify, assess and control safety risks and must write down the significant findings of their risk assessment if they have five or more employees.
Providing a safe working environment need not be a difficult or time-consuming exercise, particularly if you are in a low-risk environment. The most important thing is to make safety part of your business culture, driven by a commitment from the top of the organisation.
Benefits of working safely include fewer accidents, reduced insurance premiums, a better-motivated workforce and peace of mind.
The S2 Partnership's Health and Safety Management system is a simple and effective way for companies to manage health and safety.
The service includes:
- a site visit from one of our trained, experienced and qualified risk assessors to gather information and carry out safety risk assessments
- a client-specific safety management system based on the information obtained during the site visit
- site-specific general safety risk assessments
- a prioritized report of risk action recommendations, supported by digital photographs wherever appropriate
The system can be presented in paper format as a site-specific manual with colour-coded sections for ease of use. It can also be presented on-line through our RiskWise web-based property management tool, which enables multi-site safety risks to be tracked and managed in real time across a portfolio of sites.
The sections of the management system are:
A. Company Health and Safety Policy
This sets down the company's central policy for managing health and safety issues. It is designed to suit a company's specific needs, but may cover such subjects as:
- Fire Safety; First Aid & Accidents; Contractors & Visitors; Emergency Procedures; Lone Working; Training
- Work at Height; Trips and Slips; Window Cleaning
- Asbestos; Hazardous Substances (COSHH); Noise; Water Hygiene (Legionella)
- Electricity; Machinery ∓ Work Equipment; Vehicles & Driving
- Manual Handling; Display Screen Equipment; Working Environment
Each hazard subject includes a description of the company's specific policy, as well information about how it expects the policy to operate in practice.
For clients who have multiple sites, this section explains exactly how the central health and safety policy is managed on each of those sites. Information would include, for example, the site management structure, names of first aiders and fire wardens, contractor details, and the location of essential safety documentation such as the asbestos register and equipment inspection and insurance records. For clients with single site operations, this section is integrated into Section 1 - Company Safety Policy.
C. Risk Assessments
This includes the general health and safety risk assessments, using the S2 Partnership's own format. These site-specific assessments are broken down by geographical areas of the site and cover a wide range of health and safety hazards likely to be encountered. The assessments show existing safety controls and are not simply a list of safety failings. A separate report of prioritized recommendations is also included, supported by digital photographs wherever appropriate.
D. Checklists
These include the health and safety checks that are carried out on site to make sure that the policy is working correctly. There may be a number of different checklists, including:
- Site Safety Checks - A simple tick-box daily or weekly check on routine site safety issues, including fire escape routes, trip hazards, structural damage, etc.
- Site Management Check - Carried out by the Site Manager, usually once or twice a year depending on risk. It includes checks on issues such as policy information, first aiders, permits, etc.
- External Checks - Where appropriate, these checks are carried out by off-site managers and external auditors.
The Checklists section also includes a simple diary sheet for recording any problems that are identified during the site checks.
S2 Partnership's system is designed to meet each client's individual needs and satisfies the requirements of health and safety law and good practice. It is based on British Standard OHSAS 18001 - the recognized standard for Health and Safety Management Systems.
Effective risk management is the key to sound health & safety standards. The S2 Partnership's trained and experienced risk assessors can undertake a wide range of safety risk assessments, enabling clients to identify and manage risks in a proactive way. If our assessor recommends additional controls then we supplement our prioritized report of risk improvements with digital photographs. Many clients track and manage risk improvements through our RiskWise web-based safety management tool. Assessments that we can provide include:
General safety risk assessments - these cover all significant general safety risks associated with the activities that the client undertakes on site
Specialist assessments, including Work at Height; Glazing Safety; Noise at Work; Task-specific work assessments; Occupational assessments; Hazardous Substances (COSHH); Display Screen Equipment (DSE)
The S2 Partnership undertakes independent auditing of safety standards within a client's organisation. We work on behalf of insurers, property owners and managers. Our audits are designed to meet a client's specific needs and can include an examination of policy, risk assessments, safety procedures, contractor appointment and management standards. We can design standardised audit formats and scoring systems to ensure a consistent approach.
Auditing is an important element of an effective safety management system.
The S2 Partnership provides competent on-site safety professionals to a number of high profile clients, including Johnson & Johnson and Hermes. To support these roles, we offer a number of specialist resources, including our RiskWise web-based risk management tool; e-learning packages; and access to a wide range of specialist safety consultants and advisers.
The essential steps of a successful safety management system are:
- setting a policy - signed by those at the very top of the organisation;
- assessing safety risks - anticipating what could cause problems and making sure there are proper controls in place;
- making people responsible - letting people know the crucial role they play in safety;
- informing, training and supervising staff, and co-operating with others too;
- reviewing things regularly, or whenever anything changes.
Our consultants are specialists in drawing up simple and effective health and safety policy documents, risk assessments and management systems