Health and safety policy template
A health and safety policy sets out how your business manages health and safety: your commitment, who is responsible for what, and the practical arrangements that make it happen. This free Word template follows HSE's three-part structure (statement of intent, responsibilities and arrangements), with prompts in each part and a review record.
Running a company of 30 to 200 people? Documents like this are now worth money.
HSE says every business must have a policy for managing health and safety. In Great Britain, a business with five or more employees must write it down, and the policy and any changes to it must be shared with employees.
What's in the template
Health and safety policy
| Company | |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.0 |
| Date | |
| Review date | |
| Where staff can read it | e.g. noticeboard, intranet, staff handbook |
Part 1: Statement of intent
Say what the business commits to, in its own words. The most senior person signs and dates it.
- Identify the risks from our work and control them, starting with the most serious
- Give everyone the information, instruction, training and supervision they need to work safely
- Provide and maintain safe premises, equipment and vehicles
- Consult employees and their representatives on matters that affect their health and safety
- Plan for emergencies, including fire, first aid and evacuation
- Investigate accidents, near misses and work-related ill health, and act on what we learn
- Review this policy every year, and sooner if the business changes
| Signed | Most senior person in the business |
|---|---|
| Name and position | |
| Date |
Part 2: Responsibilities for health and safety
| Responsibility | Name and position | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Overall and final responsibility | ||
| Day-to-day responsibility for putting this policy into practice | ||
| Risk assessments | ||
| First aid and accident reporting | ||
| Fire safety and evacuation | ||
| Training and training records | ||
| Equipment inspection and maintenance | ||
| Competent health and safety adviser (internal or external) |
All employees should co-operate with managers on health and safety, take reasonable care of themselves and of others affected by their work, and report hazards, accidents and near misses.
Part 3: Arrangements for health and safety
| Area | What we do, who does it, how often |
|---|---|
| Risk assessment | |
| Training and induction | |
| Consultation with employees | |
| Emergency procedures and evacuation | |
| First aid | |
| Accidents, incidents and RIDDOR reporting | |
| Hazardous substances (COSHH) | |
| Work equipment and maintenance | |
| Display screen equipment | |
| Contractors and visitors | |
| Monitoring and review |
Review record
| Date | Reviewed by | Changes |
|---|---|---|
How to write a health and safety policy
- Do your risk assessments first. Part 3 should describe how you control the risks your risk assessments found, not a generic list.
- Write the statement of intent in your own words and keep it short. The employer or most senior person signs and dates it, and reviews it regularly.
- Name names in part 2. Put a person, and a deputy, against overall responsibility, day-to-day responsibility, and each area such as first aid, fire, training and equipment. Say what every employee is expected to do.
- Make part 3 specific. For each area say what happens, who does it and how often: "fire alarm tested every Monday at 10am by the facilities coordinator" rather than "fire safety is taken seriously".
- Share it. Walk staff through it, add it to inductions, put it where people can read it, and tell everyone when it changes.
- Revise it when the business changes: a new site, a new process, rapid growth, or lessons from an accident.
Example: a fictional 85-person precision engineering firm
Extracts from parts 2 and 3 for a fictional subcontract machine shop running two shifts.
| Part | Entry |
|---|---|
| Overall responsibility | Managing director |
| Day-to-day responsibility | Operations director, deputised by the day-shift production manager |
| Risk assessment | Section leaders review their area's assessments every January and after any accident; the operations director signs them off |
| Training | Nobody uses a lathe, press or overhead crane until trained and signed off on that machine; records kept in the training matrix |
| Consultation | Safety committee every two months, with an elected representative from each shift; minutes on the canteen noticeboard |
| Hazardous substances | COSHH assessments for cutting fluids and degreasers; skin checks for machinists |
| Evacuation | Two fire wardens per shift; a drill every six months, alternating between the shifts |
What the law says (UK and US)
UK. Section 2(3) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires every employer to prepare a written statement of its general policy on the health and safety of its employees, together with the organisation and arrangements for carrying it out; to revise it as often as appropriate; and to bring it, and any revision, to the notice of all employees. Employers with fewer than five employees are exempt from the written statement under the Employers' Health and Safety Policy Statements (Exception) Regulations 1975, though HSE says writing a policy down is still useful.
US. OSHA's Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs advise a written policy, signed by top management, describing the organisation's commitment to safety and health, communicated to all workers and, where relevant, to contractors, temporary workers and visitors.
Common mistakes
- A downloaded policy with your logo on it. If part 3 doesn't describe what actually happens in your business, it isn't your policy.
- Responsibilities given to job titles nobody holds, or to people who left last year.
- Arrangements that are statements of good intent rather than who does what and when.
- Signed and filed. Staff can't follow a policy they've never seen, and new starters are the easiest to miss.
- Leaving out people who work elsewhere: home and lone workers, drivers, and staff on customers' sites.
- No review after the business changes, so the policy still describes the company as it was three years ago.
Frequently asked questions
Is a health and safety policy a legal requirement?
Yes. HSE says every business must have a policy for managing health and safety. With five or more employees it must be written down; with fewer than five you don't have to write it down, though HSE says it's useful to.
What are the three parts of a health and safety policy?
The statement of intent (your general policy and aims, signed by the most senior person), responsibilities (who is responsible for what), and arrangements (the practical steps you take, such as risk assessment, training, consultation and evacuation).
How often should the policy be reviewed?
The law says to revise it as often as appropriate and to bring each revision to employees' notice. A yearly review, plus one after significant changes such as moving premises, starting new work or a serious incident, keeps it accurate.
Treat the template as a framework rather than legal advice, and check HSE's guidance before you sign.
Sources
- HSE: Prepare a health and safety policy
- HSE: How to write your policy
- legislation.gov.uk: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2
- legislation.gov.uk: Employers' Health and Safety Policy Statements (Exception) Regulations 1975
- OSHA: Management leadership (Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs)