Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual for Builders and Contractors

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) every company (including Builders, Contractors and tradesmen like yourself!) must have a Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual and where the company employs 5 (or more) people this Health and Safety Policy must be in writing and be available to the staff (and others) to view.  Furthermore, labour only subcontractors are counted in the numbers, so if you’re a builder with say 2 employees, which could be yourself and your non-working wife, then you only have to use 3 labour only subcontractors before you hit the legal requirement for a written Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 even says what a Health & Safety Policy should contain.  So to be compliant, a Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual must contain the following three parts:

1. Health & Safety Policy Statement of Intent (aims and objectives);
2. Organisation of health and safety (who has responsibility for what); and
3. Arrangements for health and safety (how risks are managed).

As you can probably imagine, preparing a suitable and sufficient Health & Safety Policy and Procedures Manual is not necessarily a quick or easy task, particularly for companies working in the building and construction industries where the range and scope of health and safety risks are wide ranging and significant – these risks have to addressed within your Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual – refer back to item 3. above. 

Therefore our qualified Construction Safety Advisors can help to take off the pressure and enable you to concentrate on running your construction or building business, leaving you in the knowledge that Your Safety Advisor Ltd is helping take care of your Health and Safety Responsibilities.

The consequences of not having a ‘suitable and sufficient’ Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual in place can be severe.  

First, you will often find that many clients will not wont to work with you if you are unable to provide an up-to-date and relevant Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual that is specific and tailored to the work undertaken by your company.  As builders and Contractors your Health and Safety Policy is the cornerstone of how you manage your health and safety responsibilities.

Secondly, not having a fully updated Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual could mean that your insurances are invalid and therefore you may not be covered or protected by insurance that you’ve paid good money for.  

Thirdly, if the HSE visit your building or construction site, which could be as a result of an accident, or someone reporting you, or even just a routine chance inspection, then it is likely that they will want to see your Health and Safety Policy and Procedures, as well as other Health and Safety documents.  Not being able to supply the HSE with your current, up to date Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual could result in enforcement action being taken by the HSE.  In its simplest form, this could mean that you have respond to the HSE and provide them with copies of your Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual and other documentation at a later date, but even then it won’t be that simple, as you will have to pay for the HSE Inspectors time (on site and in his office) at a rate of £157 per hour (correct as of October 2020) under the HSE’s ‘Fee for Intervention’ initiative.  Obviously, the hours and pounds involved can quickly escalate.  In more complex breaches, the HSE can also stop you working, issue a prohibition notice and even look to prosecute you.

According to the latest Health and Safety Executive figures, there are around 150,000 injuries in the workplace each year in the UK and the Building and Construction industries are one of the worst and most dangerous industries to work in. So thinking it won’t happen on one of my sites may not be one of the best mindset to have.  A Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual is a basic and fundamental requirement for all companies and tradesmen, so don’t get caught out, get in touch with Your Safety Advisor Ltd today, we can help ensure you are compliant with Health and Safety Requirements.

Hopefully the above will help to explain why it is important not to overlook the need for investing in your Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual and the general management of Health and Safety within your company.  Failing to implement proper arrangements really can be a false economy.  The costs needed to put everything in place are only fraction of the costs that would be incurred if you have an accident on site or are investigated by the HSE.

Your Safety Advisor Ltd can therefore help you to protect your business, as well as your employees, by ensuring that you are compliant and adhere to all the necessary health and safety obligations, requirements and standards. It should also be good for you to know that Your Safety Advisor Ltd only works with builders, contractors, tradesmen and construction design professionals operating in the construction and building sectors.  We are Construction Safety Specialists, so unlike most other health and safety consultants who dabble in all industrial sectors including retail, food safety, manufacturing, office safety etc, we specialise in what you do.  Ask yourself, would you want your Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual to be based on the same document as used by your local Barber or Insurance Broker!  No of course not, so make sure you talk to the Construction Safety Specialists – Your Safety Advisor Ltd and your new Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual will be tailored to the nature of the work you do.

So what is a Health and Safety Policy?

In its simplest terms, a health and safety policy is a statement and commitment that you are implementing suitable health and safety arrangements in your workplace for the protection of your employees and others affected by your works.

As part of the Health and Safety Policy, there should be documented ‘Safety Procedures’ (tasks, responsibilities, rules etc.) which detail how you plan to achieve and maintain health and safety within the work place these Safety Procedures should be specific to your industry and deal with the risks and hazards associated with your works.  

The health and safety policy ‘arrangements’ section should also say how you are going to eliminate or reduce/manage the ‘risks‘ and ‘hazards‘ in your workplace.

A hazard is something that has the potential to cause harm to people, such as chemicals, electricity and working at height.

A risk is the chance, however large or small, that a hazard could actually cause harm.

Safety Arrangements

The Safety Arrangements that you have to implement to manage health and safety on a day to day basis should be set out in the arrangements section of your health and safety policy and procedures manual. These arrangements could include any or all of the following:

• Staff Safety Training
• Abrasive Wheels
• Accident Reporting
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse / Misuse
• Asbestos
• Cartridge Operated Fixing Tools
• Signage
• Hazardous Substances
• Method Statements
• Mobile Access Equipment
• Noise
• Permit to Work
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Protection of the Public
• Risk Assessment
• Roof Work
• Scaffolding
• Work at Height
• etc….

Together these elements form your Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual and this document will be the cornerstone of how Health and Safety is Managed within any company or by any tradesmen.

At Your Safety Advisor Ltd we appreciate that most tradesmen and construction business owners probably have little idea of where to start when it comes to preparing a Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual and why would you?  But Your Safety Advisor Ltd does and we can prepare a bespoke Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual, which is specific to your company and the work that you do. It will be branded with your company details and logo (if you have one!) and the content of the Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual will be tailored to the nature of the works undertaken by your company. The basic structure and contents of your new Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual would be as follows:

Section 1 – General Statement of Health & Safety Policy

Section 2 – Organisation

Organisation

Implementation of the Policy

Monitoring Policy

Training

Purchasing Policy

Safety Committee and Employee Consultation

Communication of Health and Safety Information

Procedures for Co-operation and the Co-ordination of Contractors on Site

Section 3 – Responsibilities

• Directors
• Contracts Manager
• Office Staff
• Foreman
• Employees and Labour Only Contractors
• Contractors/Sub-Contractors
• Health and Safety Advisors

Section 4 – Arrangements & Procedures

1. Abrasive Wheels
2. Accident Reporting
3. Alcohol and Drug Abuse / Misuse
4. Asbestos
5. Cartridge Operated Fixing Tools
6. Communal Areas
7. Company Offices
8. Company Vehicles and Mobile Phones
9. Compressed Air Power Tools
10. Confined Spaces
11. Construction (Design & Management) Regulations (CDM)
12. Contractor Management
13. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
14. Covid-19 Policy
15. Demolition
16. Display Screen Equipment (DSE)
17. Documentation
18. Driving and Road Safety
19. Dust
20. Electrical Power Tools
21. Electricity & Electrical Risks
22. Emergency Procedures
23. Fire Safety
24. H&S Signs
25. Health Hazards
26. Occupational Health Surveillance
27. Highly Flammable Liquids (HFL’s)
28. Ladders, Trestles & Staging
29. Lead
30. Lifting Operations
31. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
32. Lone Working
33. Management of Health and Safety at Work
34. Manual Handling and Lifting
35. Mental Health and Wellbeing
36. Method Statements
37. Mobile Access Equipment
38. Noise
39. Notifications
40. Permit to Work
41. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
42. Protection of the Public
43. Risk Assessment
44. Roof Work
45. Scaffolding
46. Site Offices
47. Site Tidiness & Housekeeping
48. Tendering and Planning
49. Vehicle Operations
50. Vibration
51. Violence and Harassment
52. Welding & Cutting Operations
53. Welfare & First Aid
54. Work at Height
55. Work Equipment
56. Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations
57. Young Persons

Appendix – Key Health and Safety Acts and Regulations

When preparing the Health and Safety Policy Manual, we ensure that your company name and/or company logo is embedded in the document, together with the names of the responsible person(s) from your company who will help to implement the requirements of the Health and Safety Policy and Procedures.

Please note that as the Health and Safety Policy will be written specifically for your company and will be branded to your company, we will need a short period of time to liaise with you and to complete the final document.  Upon completion of the Health and Safety Policy, a full PDF copy of the Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual will be emailed to you.  Please note that we do not send out paper copies as this is a large document (typically 100+ pages) , but you will be able to print copies as and when needed, but to help save paper, you can just send an electronic copy of the Health and Safety Policy to your clients etc by email.

In addition to our Health and Safety Policy, why not also consider signing up to our Retained Health and Safety Advisor Service so that we can help ensure you have access to the competent health and Safety advice and support you need whilst running your business.  You should also be aware that access to competent Health and Safety Advice is a legal requirement under Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.