Previous law poster

New law poster

Q1: What is the law poster / the law leaflet?

Employers have a legal duty under the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations (HSIER) to display the poster in a prominent position in each workplace or provide each worker with a copy of the equivalent leaflet outlining British health and safety laws.

The new poster updates the previous poster, which was published in April 1999.  The new leaflet, now in a more convenient format as a pocket card, updates the current leaflet, also published in April 1999.

Q2: Why is it changing?

Research showed that the previous versions of poster and leaflet were visually unappealing and rarely read.  The new versions have been completely re-designed to be more readable and engaging, and are available in other formats as part of HSE’s commitment to make health and safety information more accessible.

The poster and pocket card also reflect recent changes in the law to reduce the administrative cost to employers of having to provide additional written information on the poster or with the leaflet, and having to keep this information up to date.  Instead, workers are advised to phone the HSE Infoline to be put in touch with the health and safety enforcing authority for their workplace or with HSE for employment medical advice.

Q3: What has changed?

The new poster and pocket card set out in simple terms, using numbered lists of basic points, what employers and workers must do, as well a showing what to do if there is a problem.

Its appearance has been completely re-designed to make it more readable and colourful.

Q4: Is it necessary to provide additional information with the new poster?

Unlike the previous approved poster and leaflet, the new poster and pocket card do not require the employer to provide further information in writing, either on the poster, or with the pocket card, giving workers the name and address of the enforcing authority, and the address of the office of HSE’s Employment Medical Advisory Service (EMAS), for the premises.  Instead, workers are advised to phone the HSE Infoline to be put in touch with these services.

The new approved poster does still have optional boxes where details of any employee health and safety representatives and other health and safety contacts can be added.  It is not a legal requirement to include this information, but it may be helpful to workers.

Q5: Do the current posters have to be replaced?

To help avoid an unnecessary burden on businesses, the HSE Board has set a five-year transition period for replacing the current poster and leaflet.

They must be replaced by the new poster or pocket cards by no later than 5 April 2014.

It is important to note that employers will still be complying with the law if they continue to display the current poster after 6 April 2009.  However, where employers do keep the old poster, there will be a continuing duty, over the next five years, to keep the additional written information up to date.

The additional information that employers have to provide in writing, either by inserting this in the appropriate boxes on the current poster, or by giving it to workers with the current leaflet is:

• The name and address of the enforcing authority; and
• The address of the office of HSE’s Employment Medical Advisory Service (EMAS)

for the premises concerned. These addresses can be obtained by phoning HSE’s Infoline on 0845 345 0055.

Q6: Will the information be made available in other formats or languages?

• The leaflet which may be issued by employers to workers, instead of displaying the poster, is being replaced by a pocket card, which is better suited to the workplace.
• Equivalent easy read and large print leaflets will be produced, along with an MP3 version on the HSE website.
• The poster and pocket card will also be available in Welsh.

Q7: How can employers obtain a copy of the new poster and pocket cards?

The law poster can be ordered from HSE Books (Tel: 01787 881165).

Q8: How much will the new law poster cost?

HSE has managed to keep the price of the new poster the same. The poster is being printed using a new fully bio-degradable form of plastic.

At current VAT rates (15%) the standard version costs £7.34. The semi-rigid version costs £11.75.

Q9: How can employers check they have a genuine HSE law poster?

Sadly, there were a number of scams attempted on employers, trying to sell them copy versions or expensive packs that included the poster, when HSE launched the current version of the law poster some 10 years ago.

Employers will be able to check that they have a genuine HSE law poster by checking the unique, serially numbered hologram on each poster.