Everybody should be expected to go home in the same mental and physical condition as they were in when they came to work. That is the guiding principle of workplace health and safety, according to Mandy Harley-English, health and safety manager for Saxon Weald, a housing association in the UK. Therefore, under UK law, best practice for any company with over 250 employees is to have a health and safety manager on staff to minimize work-related deaths, injuries and ill health. Companies with between five and 249 employees can invest in the services of a health and safety consultant.
A health and safety manager provides workers with information and training on how to perform their health and safety-related duties at work. The safety manager must make sure there are enough people trained in first aid. And there must be first-aid kits and emergency medical equipment, such as a defibrillator, in easily reachable areas of the company. The manager is also responsible for displaying health and safety information posters and reporting certain injuries, accidents (including those that almost happened) and work-related illnesses to the authorities.
The health and safety manager must examine the workplace. They carry out risk assessments to identify hazards and decide whether or not anyone could come to harm — and, if so, what changes must be made to prevent this. They must know when and how to get competent outside help in dangerous or hazardous situations, prepare a health and safety policy for their company and make sure it is implemented.
After all preventable risks have been eliminated, certain workers must still be provided with “last line of defence” personal protective equipment (PPE), such as hard hats for construction workers, high visibility vests for railway workers or panic alarms for home-care providers.
Regular checks must be made to ensure that there is nothing in the way of clearly defined exit routes, and that emergency exit lights function and exits are clearly marked. Checks must also be made to ensure that fire and smoke alarms as well as fire extinguishers are fully functional, that all surveillance cameras are working and that emergency evacuation drills are carried out as if they were real.
Anyone who regularly uses display screen equipment (DSE) should have their workstation checked by a health and safety expert. The company must provide financial help for eye tests and special glasses for seeing a computer screen better. Workplace aids and adaptions, such as ergonomic chairs and hydraulic desks that can prevent skeletal and muscular problems, should also be provided by the company.
Any building that has stored water — such as hospitals, care homes, social housing and large offices — must follow an approved code of practice to eliminate the risk of potentially fatal diseases.