Safety Statements

All employers including the self-employed must have a safety statement relating to their workplace and work activities. Too often HSA Inspectors come across generic Safety Statements that are prepared by Safety Statement Man someone with no real understanding of the activities undertaken by the employer.

The Safety Statement: a written document which specifies how health and safety is going to be managed within the business and it is the cornerstone of effective health and safety management in any business. The Safety Statement will also contain your policy and risk assessments and the controls required to minimise the risks from the hazards in the workplace, as well as detailing the names of those responsible for putting them into practice.

The Safety Statement must be reviewed and, if necessary, amended as required. This should be done on a annual basis or more frequently if for example your business changes and your employees are exposed to new hazards e.g. the introduction of new machinery or new work practices, or when there is reason to believe that it is no longer adequate, e.g. changes to health and safety arrangements and resources, or a near-miss incident.

The Safety statement must be brought to the attention of the employees and to any other persons at the place of work who might be exposed to the specific risks outlined in the document. When bringing the Safety Statement to the attention of employees, it must be in a form, manner and, if necessary, a language that can be understood by employees.

The following two minute video explains a safety statement in simple terms.