Safety first

Running a business can be a daunting task for many people, especially when they’re just starting out. A common enquiry Site Safe gets from new business owners is how to set up a health and safety policy. This is designed to help anybody looking to answer that question

If you’re in the process of setting up a new company, then putting together a robust health and safety policy should be one of your first priorities, as you’re legally required to provide your staff with a safe workplace.

An easy way to think about a health and safety system is to break it down into five main parts:

1. Policies and procedures.
2. Managing risks and hazards.
3. Managing staff and contractors.
4. Administration of your health and safety system.
5. Leadership

 

1. Policies and procedures

These provide a structure for your company when it comes to handling health and safety, and are the foundation of your system. Essential elements include:

• Policy statement – your overarching policy.
• Code of conduct.
• Operational policies.
• Emergency management plan.

2. Managing risks and hazards

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, business owners and leaders are required to manage any risks facing workers and any other person/s that may be affected by their work.

This means that hazards must be identified, assessed, controlled and monitored. There are several ways this can be done:

• Hazard/incident register.
• Risk assessment matrix.
• Hazardous products and substances register.
• Workplace inspections.
• Plant and equipment register.
• Monitoring activities.
• Hazard boards and danger signs.

3. Managing staff and contractors

Ensuring your workers and contractors are safe at work is one of your main priorities as a business owner. The following are essential elements of your health and safety system when it comes to keeping your people safe:

• Code of conduct – provides clearly set ‘house rules’ for your workers and contractors on how you expect people to behave while at work.
• Worker involvement in their own health and safety – allowing people to be part of the process will encourage engagement and ownership of health and safety in your business.
• Induction, training and competency supervision – workers need to be inducted into a new workplace; this provides information and outlines your expectation of them immediately.
• Training and assessment – you need to make sure workers are competent enough to safely perform the tasks expected of them. If workers are not competent, they need to be supervised.

Tools you can use to ensure that you are managing the health and safety of your people are:

• Visitor/site induction register.
• Training and competency register.
• Training pathway.
• Personal protective equipment and clothing register.

4. Administration of your health and safety system

It’s important to keep on top of your system once it is in place. Keeping records not only allows you to remain compliant, it also gives you the opportunity to see what, if anything, you are achieving. This means that regularly reviewing and keeping your system up-to-date is important.

Site Safe recommends that you regularly review daily or weekly operational records, such as:

• Hazard identification.
• Incident reports.
• Inspection results.
• Induction register.
• Pre-starts.

It’s also recommended you review your strategic data and targets annually. This process helps you to set goals for the coming year.

5. Leadership

Safety starts at the top and it requires you to invest your time in creating a plan everyone can get on board with. Site Safe’s Health and Safety Kit is a good place to start. The kit provides you with detailed information, processes and forms that a business should have as part of their health and safety system. The kit provides further detail on the framework above, including a copy of all the documents and forms mentioned. Go to sitesafe.org.nz to find out more.