• Home
• How can this site help you?
• Decide who will help with your duties
• Write a health and safety policy
• Manage the risks in your business
• Consult your employees
• Provide training and information
• Provide the right workplace facilities
• First aid, accidents and ill health
• Display the health & safety law poster
• Get insurance for your business
• Keep up to date

You have to consult all your employees on health and safety. This does not need to be complicated. You can do this by listening and talking to them about:

• health and safety and the work they do;
• how risks are controlled;
• the best ways of providing information and training.

Consultation is a two-way process, allowing staff to raise concerns and influence decisions on the management of health and safety. Your employees are often the best people to understand risks in the workplace and involving them in making decisions shows them that you take their health and safety seriously.

In a very small business, you might choose to consult your employees directly. Alternatively, you might consult through a health and safety representative, chosen by your employees or selected by a trade union. As an employer, you cannot decide who will be the representative.

See our ‘do your bit’ pages for more information on consulting with your employees. These pages include:

• advice on what you should be doing;
• a step by step guide;
• case studies.