Introduction to Managing Health and Safety for employers

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has updated its guidance on managing health and safety for employers. Employers are responsible for managing health and safety in their business. This includes managing risks and taking practical steps to protect workers and others from harm.

Managing risk is just one part of health and safety management. You must also have arrangements in place to:

• make the right plans;
• implement those plans;
• check they are working; and
• act if they are not.

By doing this, you should be able to ensure:

• your risks stay controlled; and
• you provide a safe working environment for workers and others.

The measures you put in place should be part of your everyday processes for managing your business.

For most small, low-risk businesses you don’t need a formal management system. By following a simple Plan, Do, Check, Act approach you can effectively manage health and safety in your workplace.

HSE provides information on finding the right guidance for your business outlining that the approach you take for managing health and safety will depend on the size of your business, the type of work you do, and the level of risk in your workplace.

See: Introduction to managing health and safety: Find the right guidance for your business – HSE