In order to stay within legal guidelines, and to ensure a safe and comfortable place for your staff to work, it is vital to know about health and safety guidelines. Of course, this also runs as far as ensuring your customers are safe too - if you have regular clients and customers visiting your office or workplace, you need to ensure all boxes are ticked, otherwise you could find yourself on the wrong end of a claim.
From a money standpoint, we have to highlight the fact that we live in a ‘no win, no fee’ claim society, and even the slightest mishap could mean that someone, either a customer, client, or an employee would be free to claim against you. This would not only damage you’re reputation, and therefore put you at risk of loss revenue, but you could also lose an excessive amount of money in a large pay out. You insurance premiums would also be affected, and you would have to pay more in order to be covered.
Put simply, health and safety in the workplace is necessary do, and if you don’t adhere to regulations, you’re breaking the law, via the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
To help you cover all bases, let’s give you as much information as possible, to cut down on the chances of any adverse occurrences from happening.
The Duties of the Employer
Legally, an employer must ensure that every single employee on their books experience a healthy and safe environment during their working time. This extends as far as the same for anyone who sets foot on the premises, so any contractors, freelancers, customers, clients, visitors, etc.
The employer should:
• Create and maintain the office and general work space in a safe and risk-free manner
• Do regular risk assessments to identify any potential hazards, as well as rectifying them upon identification
• Implement safe working practices and train all staff correctly
• Have policies in place to reduce the risk of bullying or harassment and have clear reporting routes
• Keep walkways and doorways free from obstruction and keep evacuation doors closed and unobstructed
• Have first aid facilities and inform all staff how to access them
• Inform all staff on what to do in case of an emergency, including fire and how to evacuate
• Meet health and safety standards on temperatures in the workplace, lighting standards, washing, rest room facilities, and ventilation
• Maintain and check any working equipment on a regular basis
• Provide staff with any relevant proactive equipment or clothing for their role
• Provide staff with manual handling training and reduce the need to use it
• Keep and maintain records of any injuries or accidents at work
That is the basic list of duties you have to adhere to in terms of health and safety as an employer. Of course, within that you need to also think about providing your staff with the best and most comfortable equipment to do their job. This would fall under the risk assessment category. For instance, if you have a member of staff who is struggling with pain in their wrists, perhaps due to RSI, you need to do a risk assessment of their work station and decide whether you need to look into more ergonomically designed desks or specific office tables for their role.
You should also regularly discuss health and safety with your employees and seek out ideas on how to make the office more comfortable overall. For instance, if there is a high amount of noise, perhaps look into office screens.
Ensuring employee wellness is as much a part of health and safety at work as anything else. You should look into any opportunities you can incorporate that will help your staff be more comfortable, and therefore healthier, thus improving productivity. It’s all linked! For this, you could think about incorporating breakout booths, for any member of staff who is in need for a quick boost of downtime during a break.
The Duties of the Employee, And Their Rights
The employee has certain duties to uphold as well as the employer, but they also have rights too. The main duty of an employee at work is to ensure that if they see any potential hazard, that they report it quickly and to the correct person, according to the policies and procedures of the workplace. In addition, the employee is also responsible for ensuring their own health and safety, by not acting in a reckless manner, and by sticking to polices and procedures. Employees should also not put another colleague, member of staff, client, or customer at risk by engaging in any risky behaviour, or causing an unnecessary hazard.
Employees are also responsible for ensuring that they attend the necessary health and safety training as set out by the organisation itself. For instance, if they are called to attend manual handling or fire safety training, they must do so, and whilst the employer can prompt them, it is ultimately their responsibility.
To break it down into easier chunks, the employee responsibilities outlined are:
• To ensure attendance at regular and appropriate training sessions
• To stick to any health and safety policy implemented by the organisation
• To use protective equipment and clothing properly, and to use it whenever carrying out that particular job
• To immediately report any injury or illness suffered at work to the employer
• To report any issues with health which might affect their work to some degree, e.g. pregnancy, being under investigation for a visual problem, taking a specific type of medication which can impair focus or cause drowsiness etc. This is done confidentially and should result in the employer adjusting their role to accommodate the risk and issue appropriately
Of course, the employee also has many rights under the Health and Safety at Work Act. These include:
• The right to work in a risk-free, healthy and safe environment, with any risks eliminated or minimised as far as possible
• To receive protective safety equipment and clothing in line with their role, free of charge
• The right to leave the workplace if they have a serious concern about safety. In this case, the employee should not be disciplined, and is protected under the Act
• The freedom to approach the employer about any concerns, without being worried about consequences
• To report any issue with the correct authority, if an employer refuses to action a concern reported, without any risk of being disciplined
As you can see, working in line with health and safety can be tricky, as you need to tick every box. If you don’t do this, you put yourself in line for serious consequences, as we mentioned earlier on. It’s vital that as an employer, you place health and safety, as well as the wellness of your staff, at the top of your priority list, over profits and everything else! An unhealthy and injured workforce is not going to be productive!
Your staff need to know that you place importance on their health and this will give them more confidence in the job and the organisation. That doesn’t even take into account the fact that this is a legal obligation on your side. Staff should also be aware of their responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act, and this should be laid out to them during their induction to the company.
Creating a Safe and Healthy Workplace
It is vital that you regularly review and tweak your workplace set up, in order to create the right blend for your employees, and the safety of anyone else who walks through your doors. Remember, you don’t just have a responsibility to your staff, but to everyone who visits your establishment!
Regularly check your office design, and look into new alternatives, such as going for ergonomic designs, new executive office chairs, and regularly replacing your reception seating to make it comfortable and supportive for anyone waiting to be seen. If you’re on the look out for new office furniture, search for ‘office furniture stores near me’ online and you’re sure to see Calibre come up! We provide office furniture in London and further afield, and we have some great options for your office.
Of course, it goes further beyond furniture and into the realms of flooring, lighting, ventilation, and ensuring your staff have access to adequate and comfortable canteen facilities. Washrooms should be clean and regularly maintained, and staff should feel engaged and innovated when they are at work, not dragged down and uncomfortable!
By placing a huge amount of importance on the health, safety and welfare of your staff, customers, contractors, and visitors, you won’t go far wrong. Ironically, you’ll find that adding this importance to your company’s mission statement will also increase productivity, because your staff will feel more involved, cared for, and will want to work harder for you as a result.