Legislation

Here are some key pieces of legislation that make certain documents, information, monitoring and equipment legal requirements, this means you are breaking the law if you fail to provide them.

Health & Safety Policy

Do I really need a Health and Safety Policy, yes is the short answer, it is detailed in the legislation below;

The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 Regulation 2 Part 3 states:
It shall be the duty of every employer to prepare and as often as may be appropriate revise a written statement of his general policy with respect to the health and safety at work of his employees and the organisation and arrangements for the time being in force for carrying out that policy, and to bring the statement and any revision of it to the notice of all of his employees.

Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are they really necessary, yes, they are a fundamental part of Heath and safety regulations as detailed below;
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 Regulation 3 (1) states that every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of—
(a)the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and (b)the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking

Training

If I employ experienced staff do I still need to train them, yes, training is a requirement for all staff as stated below;

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 Regulation 13 (2) states that every employer shall ensure that his employees are provided with adequate health and safety training—
on their being recruited into the employer’s undertaking; and (b)on their being exposed to new or increased risks

Fire Risk assessment

Does my business have to have a Fire Risk Assessment, if you have business premises then yes and it needs to be regularly re-assessed;
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 Part 2 Article 9 states that-
(1) The responsible person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose of identifying the general fire precautions he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under this Order.

Working at Height

At what point is someone classed as working at height, pretty much as soon as their foot leaves the ground and settles on a higher step, working at height is one of the most dangerous tasks done by staff and the regulations reflect that.
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 Regulation 5 states:
Every employer shall ensure that no person engages in any activity, including organisation, planning and supervision, in relation to work at height or work equipment for use in such work unless he is competent to do so or, if being trained, is being supervised by a competent person.
Regulation 6 states:

(1) In identifying the measures required by this regulation, every employer shall take account of a risk assessment under regulation 3 of the Management Regulations.

(2) Every employer shall ensure that work is not carried out at height where it is reasonably practicable to carry out the work safely otherwise than at height.

(3) Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.

PPE

Do I have to provide free PPE, in most cases yes.
The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 Regulation 4 states:
(1) Every employer shall ensure that suitable personal protective equipment is provided to his employees who may be exposed to a risk to their health or safety while at work except where and to the extent that such risk has been adequately controlled by other means which are equally or more effective.