Safety Statements

What is a Safety Statement?

The Safety Statement is

• 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

Who needs a Safety Statement?

All employers including the self-employed must have a Safety Statement relating to their workplace and work activities.

Why do you need a safety statement?

Section 20 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires that an organisation produce a written programme to safeguard:

• the safety and health of employees while they work
• the safety and health of other people who might be at the workplace, including customers, visitors and members of the public

What Should be in your Safety Statement?

• your health and safety policy,
• your risk assessments,
• the controls you required to reduce the risks from the hazards in your workplace.
• the names of those responsible for putting your controls into practice.

How to Create a Safety Statement

You can complete a Risk Assessment and create Free Safety Statement on the BeSMART.ie website.

Do Safety Statements need to be Specific to my workplace?

HSA Inspectors often come across generic Safety Statements that are prepared by someone with no real understanding of the workplace activities. It is important that the Safety Statement is specific to the workplace and considers all relevant workplace hazards.

When should I review the Safety Statement?

This should be done on a yearly basis, or, more frequently may be needed, for example if:

• your business activities change, and your employees are exposed to new hazards, for example, the introduction of new machinery or new work practices, or,
• when there is reason to believe that it is no longer adequate, for example, changes to health and safety arrangements and resources, or a near-miss incident.

Who should know about the Safety Statement?

The Safety statement must be brought to the attention of:

• your employees and
• anyone at your place of work who might be exposed to the specific risks.

When bringing the Safety Statement to the attention of employees, it must be in a language and a way that can be understood by employees.

BeSMART.ie Safety Statement and Risk Assessment Tool Videos