What are safe working practices in the UK?

The importance of health and safety in the workplace

If you run your own trade business, we’re sure you’re already intimately aware of the need for health and safety. A legal duty for employers under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, you need to keep your employees safe.

And that means implementing good safe working practices to mitigate physical and mental risks.

After all, good health and safety is the hallmark of a competent and trustworthy business. But if you’re unfamiliar with implementing this sort of policy, you might be unsure of where to start.

That’s why we’ve pulled together this guide covering all you need to know about safe working practices. With this knowledge in hand, you should have no problem meeting your employer’s safety obligations.

What is a safe working practice?

Before we get into the details, it’s first worth asking what a safe working practice is. Simply put, safe working practices are initiatives that help employees to maintain health and safety protocols while working.

• They are legally required under UK law
• All businesses must have some form of safe working policy in place
• Even more important if you have 5 or more employees
• You will be fined and may face legal action if you do not

Of course, what you decide to implement as a safe working practice will differ depending on your place of work. For example, an electrician is going to be exposed to greater work risks than an interior designer.

Therefore, you need to take the time to assess and understand what risks are present in your place of work. And then create safe working procedures and policies to deal with them. If you don’t, then the role of the HSE may become applicable to your business, resulting in enforced health and safety standards.

Why are safe working procedures important?

This might seem like a self-explanatory question, but it’s worth covering in brief. Simply put, you are legally required to provide a safe space for your employees to work in. And any incidents that do occur need to be reported.

This sort of procedure is absolutely crucial to avoid injury and death in the workplace.

Without them, you will be fined directly, likely face legal procedures if you fail to implement any requests, and possibly even business closure if standards are not met.

Examples of safe working practices

Now that we’ve covered the why, let’s look at some examples of safe working practices you might want to implement. That way, you can have some idea of where to start when creating your own safe working procedures.

Below are some of the most common safe work practices businesses employ:

• Informing all staff of workplace risks before starting work
• Working with high-level staff or a health and safety committee to ensure work risks are regularly identified and assessed
• Displaying health and safety signage in clear view to workers
• Providing employee training in fire safety, risk avoidance, and first aid
• Informing employees of health and safety policies being put in place and what these might require them to do
• Reporting all workplace incidents
• Minimising the potential cause of workplace mental stress
• Investing employer’s liability insurance; a legal requirement for employers to have
• Providing welfare facilities in your place of work, such as toilets, sanitary conditions, break spaces, etc…
• Considering all aspects of safety when designing your workplace

These are just the basics, and there are many more out there you should consider. You should also bear in mind that you may need to update your policies in the future. This is especially true if you identify new risks and ways of working.

On top of this, it’s always worth asking employees for feedback on their place of work. They’ll likely spot things you miss and can help make your safety policies that much more thorough.

Safe working policies you can implement

When it comes to implementing safe working procedures, there are several things you can do. We’ve highlighted three core areas below that you should look into when setting up your systems:

Why you should implement safety policies

Under specific UK law, all employers must set up safety regulations. These should be based on the points highlighted in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 Act.

Once you have these established, you can then train your staff in these core areas. This will help you implement effective emergency coordination should an incident occur in the workplace.

How to conduct risk assessments

All businesses need to conduct regular risk assessments to keep their health and safety policies up to date. This means keeping an eye out for new and old risks that could impact workflow.

Below are the key steps to follow when conducting a risk assessment:

• The identification of workplace hazards that could pose a risk
• Noting the seriousness of said risks in terms of the potential to cause employee harm
• Writing and implementing steps that need to be taken to mitigate the problems such a risk might pose
• Creating a report on your findings relating to these risks
• Reviewing all control measures currently in place to manage hazards to ensure their effectiveness

How to introduce new health and safety policies

Finally, you can introduce new safety policy. These policies can be multi-faceted, but should include steps to cover all the following areas:

• The provision of any training required to mitigate workplace risks, for free
• Training on moving heavy equipment properly
• Training on handling machinery correctly
• Providing adequate PPE to workers who need it
• Providing fire safety guidance
• Training on avoiding employee exposure to chemical hazards
• Conducting a review of safe site access and exits

Stay safe with Checkatrade

Hopefully, you should now have a much better understanding of what safe working practices are. But if you want more help in implementing work safety, then you should sign up to Checkatrade.

All our members are vetted to ensure they meet our exacting safety standards when working.

Not only that, but members also get access to our forums. Meaning you can ask other experienced tradespeople directly how they implement their safety protocols.

Get in touch today to learn more. And don’t forget to visit our blog for more pieces on health and safety. This includes articles on providing correct PPE, scaffolding safety regulations, and how to make your site more safety-conscious.