Below you'll find links which will lead you to FAQ's covering typical questions we answer for our clients. If you cannot find an answer here please feel free to contact us using the email link or numbers provided above.

I have been told that I need to register my Company with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Is this true?
Yes you must. It is a requirement of the Offices Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 to notify the HSE of your Company operations.

Do I need to display a Poster?
Yes. You must display the "Health and Safety Law - What You Should Know" poster (available from HSE Books and The Stationary Office). It requires you to fill in details of the Local HSE and Local Authority as well as the Employment Medical Advisory Service (EMAS) for your employees.

Why do I need a Health and Safety Policy?
All Companies employing more that 5 people are legally required to have a written Health and Safety Policy (Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974)

Why do I need to do Risk Assessments?
All Companies employing more that 5 people are legally required to identify the hazards and assess the risks presented by the work that is undertaken (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999). These must be written down with accompanying control measures that the Company employ to reduce the risks. The evaluation can be numerically calculated or can be purely descriptive.

What is CDM?
CDM is an abbreviation of Construction Design and Management (from the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994). It applies to construction projects that are notifiable under the Regulations if they are to last longer than 30 days or will involve more than 500 person days of work.

It requires key organisations in a construction project to take on various roles having a health and safety duty attached. This ranges from Clients, Designers, Planning Supervisors and the Principal Contractor.

Do I need a Fire Risk Assessment if I already have a Fire Certificate?
Fire Risk Assessments need to be undertaken (Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997) for your workplace (to consider employees and others who may be affected). This approach is like that of normal Risk Assessments but is designed to cover only fire hazards.

A Fire Certificate must be applied for if there are more than 20 people at work or more than 10 people elsewhere than on the ground floor. You must consider the aggregate of people at work where premises are shared/multiple occupancy.

You should note however, that Fire Certificates will be pahsing out throughout 2004.

I use my computer for 3 hours per day. Do I need to undertake a DSE Assessment?
A "User" has to be identified by a series of questions related to the length of time spent at your workstation and the dependency you may have on it to do your job. Working for 3 hours a day is likely to warrant an assessment being undertaken.

An assessment will involve an analysis of the Display Screen Equipment (ie Computer, monitor, etc.) the workstation (ie the desk and chair arrangements) and the surrounding environment.

What is a Reportable Accident?
Reportable accidents are defined by the Reporting of Injuries, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). Reporting needs to be undertaken for a fatal accident, major injuries (for example involving hospital treatment), injuries involving other people than your employees, over 3-day injuries and accidents on public roads.

How many first aiders do I need to cover my business?

First-aid personnel should be available at all times people are at work, based on assessments of risk and number of workers.

Where there are special circumstances, such as remoteness from emergency medical services, shiftwork, or sites with several separate buildings, there may need to be more first-aid personnel than set out below. Increased provision will be necessary to cover for absences.