In an effort to help large UK businesses and organisations understand their responsibilities in relation to health and safety, and to abide by the law, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched brand new, user-friendly guidance.
The ‘Managing for Health and Safety’ guidance, or HSG65, is designed to help business owners, company directors, trustees and line managers understand how to manage health and safety in their workplace.
The guidance, which is available online at the HSE website free of charge, has four main sections, which are:
1. The core elements of managing health and safety
2. Are you doing what you need to?
3. How to deliver effective arrangements
4. Resources
Workers and their union representatives can also benefit from the improved information from the HSE, whether they have undergone health and safety training or not.
Commenting on the HSG65 guidance, lead author Andrew Cottam said:
“Each level of guidance on our website offers appropriately targeted information, focussed on making compliance as straightforward as possible.
“Following the guidance is not compulsory, unless specifically stated, and businesses are free to take other action, but if they do follow the guidance they will normally be doing enough to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance.”
