Health and Safety Policy

1. Policy statement

[TeamTalk Ltd] is committed to ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all its employees, and to conducting its business so that others who may be affected are not exposed to risks to their health or safety. That is the duty in sections 2(1) and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, treated here as a genuine obligation rather than a form-filling exercise.

The legal position, stated openly. Section 2(3) of the 1974 Act requires a written policy statement "except in such cases as may be prescribed", and the Employers' Health and Safety Policy Statements (Exception) Regulations 1975 except any employer with fewer than five employees. [TeamTalk Ltd] is below that threshold and is not obliged to hold this document. It maintains one anyway, because customers ask for it and because writing it down is how the arrangements below get followed. The written policy becomes a legal requirement on the day the fifth employee starts, as does recording the risk assessment findings under regulation 3(6) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

2. Scope and the nature of the risk

This policy applies to all employees, directors and contractors, whether working at [the registered office], at home, or while travelling. The company is a software supplier: it carries out no construction, no manufacturing and no work on customer premises, and has no operatives, plant, vehicles, hazardous substances or stock. The significant risks are those of a desk-based, largely remote business:

display screen equipment, meaning musculoskeletal disorders and visual fatigue; electrical safety of portable equipment and of domestic supplies where people work from home; slips, trips and falls; lone and home working, including the difficulty of raising an alarm; stress, fatigue and excessive hours, which is a real risk in a small company; and occasional visits to customer premises, including construction sites and commercial kitchens, where the occupier's rules and inductions govern.

3. Organisation and responsibilities

[Name, Director]

Overall and final responsibility for health and safety, for this policy and its review, for providing the resources to implement it, and for reporting under RIDDOR.

[Name]

Day-to-day implementation: risk assessments, display screen assessments, the accident book, first aid provision and equipment checks.

All employees and contractors

Taking reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others affected by their acts or omissions; co-operating with the company; using equipment as instructed; completing their display screen self-assessment; and reporting any accident, near miss or defect at once. No one is expected or permitted to continue working in conditions they reasonably believe to be unsafe.

4. Arrangements

1. Risk assessment. A suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to employees and to others is carried out under regulation 3 of the 1999 Regulations, reviewed at least annually and whenever work arrangements change. The findings are recorded even while the company remains below the five-employee recording threshold.
2. Display screen equipment. Everyone who habitually uses display screen equipment as a significant part of their normal work completes a workstation self-assessment on joining, annually, and after any change of workstation. This applies to home workstations as well as office ones: the duty attaches to the user, not the premises, and HSE confirms it covers permanent and hybrid home workers using screens daily for continuous periods of an hour or more. Screen work is periodically interrupted by breaks or changes of activity. Eye tests, and any special corrective appliance needed for screen work, are provided free on request. Equipment needed to make a workstation compliant is provided by the company and never charged to the worker.
3. Home and lone working. Anyone working alone or from home confirms their working area is adequately lit, ventilated, heated and free of trip hazards, and that the electrical supply and company equipment are sound. A check-in arrangement operates for anyone working alone outside normal hours.
4. Electrical safety. Company equipment is visually inspected before issue and periodically thereafter, and damaged equipment is withdrawn immediately. Portable appliance testing is applied on a risk basis; it is not a statutory requirement and the company does not treat it as one.
5. Working hours and wellbeing. The Working Time Regulations 1998 are observed, including the 48-hour average weekly limit, daily and weekly rest, and a break of at least 20 minutes where daily working time exceeds six hours. Workload is reviewed [quarterly] and no one is expected to work while unwell.
6. Visits to customer premises. Personnel visiting a site, kitchen, warehouse or other operational premises complete the occupier's induction, comply with site rules and personal protective equipment requirements, remain escorted where required, and do not enter operational areas without permission. Any hazard observed is reported to the site's responsible person.
7. First aid and emergencies. A first aid kit is held at [location], checked [every six months]. Emergency contact details for every employee are held by [name]. Fire arrangements follow the occupier's fire risk assessment and evacuation procedure.
8. Accidents and reporting. All accidents, injuries, near misses and dangerous occurrences are recorded, whether or not reportable. Reportable matters are notified under RIDDOR 2013: specified injuries and dangerous occurrences by the quickest practicable means without delay, with a written report within 10 days; over-seven-day incapacity within 15 days of the accident. Over-three-day incapacity is recorded, and records kept at least three years.
9. Information. The approved health and safety law poster is displayed, or the approved leaflet issued to each employee, as regulation 4 of the 1989 Regulations requires. Because personnel work remotely, [the leaflet is issued on joining].
10. Insurance and consultation. Employers' liability insurance of not less than the statutory £5 million is maintained wherever the company employs anyone not exempt, with the certificate available electronically [cover: £10m, [insurer], policy [number]]. Health and safety is a standing item at the [monthly] team meeting, and any employee may raise a concern directly with the director named above without detriment.

5. Review

Reviewed at least annually, and sooner if the law changes, if activities or premises change, if headcount reaches five, or following any accident or near miss. The statement and any revision is brought to the notice of all employees, as section 2(3) of the 1974 Act requires.