What is Health and Safety Consultancy

• Your organisation complies with its legal duties under health and safety law.
• You receive expert and professional advice, support, training and supervision regarding your health and safety duties.
• There is a professional contribution to achieving a positive health and safety culture.

The UK Health and Safety regulatory framework

The basis of UK health and safety law is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974; with any organisation’s management of activities related to that act encapsulated under the Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999.

The Act sets out the responsibilities of employers towards employees and the public, as well as the responsibilities of any person present within that organisation’s premises, whether an employee or a member of the public.

Why do organisations need risk assessments?

Employers are responsible for carrying out risk assessments of their activities and anywhere people have access including employees, visitors or contractors.

Risk assessments should be proportionate to the risk. Low risk environments include traditional office spaces and small retail premises, whereas high risk environments include factories, construction sites and manufacturing operations.

Health and safety in the workplace

At first glance UK health and safety legislation can appear exhausting, and the responsibilities of an organisation’s appointed competent person seems limitless.

Essentially, health and safety in the workplace is about managing risks sensibly to protect your workers and your organisation.

Health and safety responsibilities are based on the principle of ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’. Essentially, this term means that any identified risks should be balanced against the time, trouble, and cost of taking measures to avoid the risk. 

For example, if the risk is very low but would take a lot of money and time to eliminate it, then it is not reasonably practicable to implement these control measures.

What are my health and safety responsibilities?

Employers with five or more employees must appoint a competent person.

A competent person must have the experience, knowledge, skills, and training to provide appropriate advice and guidance in health and safety matters.

This individual can be an employee or sourced from a third party such as Praxis42.

Duties of a competent person include but are not limited to:

• Supporting managers in mitigating risk.
• Reviewing and updating assessments when appropriate (changes in legislation, changes to working practice, specific time periods etc.).
• Support the occupational health and safety management system including setting up emergency procedures, providing clear information to employees about identified risks and risk mitigation procedures.
• Providing health and safety training.

Praxis42 competent person support