KIRKLEES firms have been urged to make use of a new way for small businesses to get official advice on health and safety.
The new Health and Safety Toolbox is the latest in a package of online guidance available from the Health and Safety Executive – bringing together in one place everything a small, low-risk business could need to manage health and safety.
The package of guidance – developed by the HSE with the support of businesses – will help small business owners and employers avoid wasting precious time reading what they don’t need to, spending money on needless bureaucracy or resorting to hiring costly consultants to get the advice they need.
Quick, simple guides and interactive tools on how to identify, assess and control common workplace hazards have been pulled together for the first time. Core health and safety issues relating to the type of business, its workforce and workplace are set out more simply then ever before.
It includes sections on the most common risks such as manual handling, trip hazards and harmful substances as well as tips on protective equipment.
David Snowball, HSE director for Northern England and Scotland, said: “While our inspectors focus on ensuring that higher-risk businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber are taking the right precautions to protect their workers and the public, we do appreciate that employers in smaller, lower-risk businesses can feel daunted by what health and safety law requires.
“It doesn’t have to be an onerous task and we will be pointing them to the Toolkit for all the advice they could need in one place.”
Mary Boughton, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “
“The Toolbox should give small, low-risk businesses the information that they need in a simple and easy to use way without asking them to read through reams of guidance.
Go to www.hse.gov.uk
