H&S ABC – An easy guide to health & safety

Health and safety made simple is the go-to guide for all basic information that businesses need to start managing health and safety. It offers simple, clear information on what businesses must do to comply with the law.

It covers topics such as deciding what facilities need to be available in their workplace, how to consult your employees and what training and information to provide

The Health and safety toolbox: How to control risks at work builds on Health and Safety Made Simple. It gives straightforward advice on the most common health and safety hazards in all types of business and shows how small and medium-sized businesses can take practical steps to control their risks.

The guidance contains advice on:

• the most common causes of accidents with helpful do and don'ts
• working environments that can cause or worsen health conditions such as asthma and cancer

The Toolbox has practical case studies to show how accidents and ill-health can be avoided, helping businesses learn from others.

Simple tools have been created to show business owners how to identify their hazards and risks and produce tailored risk assessments for their workplaces.

If there are fewer than five employees the risk assessment does not have to be written down.

• Example risk assessments
  The example risk assessments show the approach that HSE expects small and medium sized business to take and give examples of how other businesses have managed similar situations. They highlight what the hazards may be and what steps need to be taken to reduce the risk of an accident happening, or health problems occurring or being made worse.
• The risk assessment template
  The risk assessment template can be used by all small and medium sized businesses to create a tailored risk assessment and health and safety policy. The blank template prompts business owners to think about their hazards and decide what action they need to take.
• Online risk assessment tools for low risk offices and shops
  These interactive tools will help employers in low risk offices and shops understand what they need to do to run a safe and healthy business. Working through each step in the tools will help business owners identify the specific hazards and risks in their workplace, enabling them to produce an individual risk assessment for their business.