Health and safety policy

1.
a. Why set a policy for health and safety? [6]

b. Develop a list of items that should be included in the health and safety policy. [12]

c. State when setting a written health and safety policy is a legal requirement under section 2(3)
of the Health and Safety at Work (HSW) Act and the Employers’ Health and Safety Policy
Statements (Exception) Regulations 1975. [2]

2. Review both the essential actions and the good practice required of the Board to establish a
health and safety policy. [16]

3. Every organisation should have a clear policy for the management of health and safety so
that everybody associated with the organisation is aware of its health and safety aims and
objectives and how they are to be achieved. There are many benefits to having a health and
safety management system, although they can also have their problems. Evaluate the
benefits versus the problems associated with occupational health and safety management
systems. [20]

4.
a. Outline the legal requirements whereby an employer must prepare a written health and safety
policy.
b. Identify the three main sections of a health and safety policy document and explain the purpose
and general content of each section.

5.
a. State the legal requirements whereby employers must prepare a written statement of their health
and safety policy.
b. Outline the various methods for communicating the contents of a health and safety policy to a
workforce.

6. Explain why a health and safety policy should be signed by the most senior person in an
organization, such as a Managing Director or Chief Executive.

7.
a. Identify the typical content of the ‘statement of intent’ section of an organization’s health and
safety policy document.
b. Outline the factors that may indicate that health and safety standards within an organization do
not reflect the objectives within the ‘statement of intent’.

8. Identify the purposes of each of the following sections of a health and safety policy document:
i. ‘statement of intent’
ii. ‘organization’
iii. ‘arrangements’.

9. Identify SIX categories of persons who may be shown in the ‘organization’ section of a health and
safety policy document AND state their likely general or specific health and safety responsibilities.
10. Outline the issues that are typically included in the arrangements section of a health and safety
document.

11. Outline the key areas that should be addressed in the ‘arrangements’ section of a health and
safety policy document.

12.

a. Explain why it is important for an organization to set targets in terms of its health and safety
performance
b. Outline SIX types of target that an organization might typically set in relation to health and safety.

13. Outline the circumstances that would require a health and safety policy of be reviewed.