Close Navigation

Search

Health & Safety when you have 5 employees or more

Insight by

amanda

Amanda Lambert

Published on

27 February 2024

Competent person

Health & Safety when you have 5 employees or more

As soon as you have 5 employees or more you have a legal requirement to ensure you have full Health & Safety in place.  Your obligations are outlined in the Safety at Work Regulations 1974.

How this changes from less than 5 employees is you now need to ensure you have:

  • Written Health and Safety Policy
  • Written Health and Safety Policy Statement
  • Written Risk Assessments that are implemented in the business.

Depending on your industry and the work you carry out you may also need

  • COSHH assessments
  • Tool box talks
  • ‘competent person’ either within your business or a consultant.

If you are not sure exactly what your business will require you can find details by visiting the HSE website. Every business is different and your competent person will be able to cover all aspects for you.

Your competent person should be fully qualified in all aspects of Health & Safety, this can prove to be an expensive requirement if you employ them full time. There are consultants that can do this for you where you pay a retainer fee per month to be kept up to date and provided with guidance and the latest legislation changes.

There are a number of resources on the HSE website that will be able to help you with any changes that may affect you as you continue to grow.

If there is anything you think we may be able to help you with in terms of your competent person resource get in touch.

 

Remote Competent Safety Advisor Vs Onsite Visiting

Insight by

amanda

Amanda Lambert

Published on

5 July 2023

Competent person

Remote Competent Safety Advisor Vs Onsite Visiting

We often get asked the question about our Competent Safety Advisor Service to see what the benefits are compared to having someone employed onsite. The obvious one is cost, it is much more cost effective to have a remote competent person as a service, a service like ours starts from £50 per month compared to a full time salary.

Why use an outsourced service?

  • We supply a comprehensive Health and Safety Management System
  • We develop a bespoke company Health and Safety Policy for your business
  • We work with you to develop a company employee handbook
  • We develop an Environmental Policy specific to you
  • We provide assistance in Accident Reporting to Enforcing Authorities/Accident Investigation
  • We will liaison with Enforcing Authorities on your behalf

Ongoing support

  • Access to telephone advice on an unlimited number of occasions
  • Updates on any changes in Health and Safety legislation
  • Access to over 80 risk assessments and various supporting documentation held on our website
  • Yearly review of all documentation and revised documents issued
  • Monthly newsletters giving you latest Health & Safety News as well as legislation updates.

With over 200 clients we provide a comprehensive service that is affordable and reliable so SME’s can have peace of mind that they are compliant with their legal obligations.

There are no hidden fees and we pride ourselves with having an 95% retention record year on year. You can see testimonials on our website or on Trust pilot which is an independent review platform.

If you would like to speak to us or get more information please get in touch.

The difference between Safety Advisor and Competent Person

Insight by

amanda

Amanda Lambert

Published on

9 May 2023

Competent person

The difference between Safety Advisor and Competent Person

Ensuring you have the right level of support and advice for your Health & Safety is abit of a mine field and can be defined simply by the number of employees you have.

Less than 5 employees = Safety Advisor

This service is where you are offered support and advice when needed, this tends to be a one of payment where you will be given a service agreement, certificate and a CV to show the qualifications of the person who is providing you with the advice. Paperwork such as off the shelf risk assessments and risk assessments and Method statements would be provided on an as and when basis should you need them.

More than 5 employees = Competent Person

This service is where you pay a monthly retainer fee for continued support and advice should you need it. This service is where your consultant becomes part of your business and should be informed of anything that changes within the organisation. In this service you will be provided with a full Safety Management System including full Health & Safety Policy, Equal opportunities policy and Staff handbook. Your consultant will be on hand to be the link between you and the HSE should this ever be necessary.

Whilst not every company is black and white like this the rule of thumb tends to be the details above. You may be asked by a client to prove you have a dedicated support for Health & Safety resource as well as a policy with less than 5 employees if that is the case you would need fall outside of the rule.

If you are not sure about your personal circumstances please get in touch we are happy to go through everything with you.

Pros and Cons of Outsourcing your Safety advisor resource

Insight by

amanda

Amanda Lambert

Published on

19 April 2023

Competent person

The pros of outsourcing defiently outweigh the cons, but before you form a partnership with an Health & Safety consultant you must learn all you can about outsourcing. Once you are fully informed you can decide if outsourcing is right for your business and how it can help you.

Following is a list of pros and cons of outsourcing:

Pros of Outsourcing

  • Up to date professional advice when you need it
  • Gives you access to skilled professionals at low cost
  • The confidence in knowing your legal duties are covered
  • Reduces your cost of doing business, as you save on infrastructure, workforce, hiring costs, training costs, and technology and software investments
  • Allows you to focus more on your core business functions

Cons of Outsourcing

  • You will have to rely on the expertise of another company without fully understanding all the detail yourself
  • You need to ensure that your outsource partner is available for your working hours not just theirs
  • You need to understand turn around times and accept them
  • You may not be able to get what you want when you want it
  • You have to trust the information they provide is accurate and up to date

Outsourcing your Health & Safety resource can give your business the competitive edge it requires to win work and be successful on tenders.

If anything, the disadvantages of outsourcing give you the opportunity to think before-hand about the things you need to keep in mind when selecting an outsourcing partner.

If you are looking to outsource your Health & Safety we can support you, get in touch.

Covering your Heath & Safety needs for 2023

Insight by

amanda

Amanda Lambert

Published on

25 December 2022

Competent person

Covering your Heath & Safety needs for 2023

If your looking to outsource you Health & Safety Competent Advice in 2023 there are a number of reasons why you should pick Seguro:

  • We provide a full Health & Safety Management System including a policy, employee handbook and an environmental policy.
  • Access to telephone advice on an unlimited number of occasions
  • We provide monthly newsletters detailing latest legislation, HSE news and any updates we need to share
  • We post blogs on a weekly basis of informative information for your business
  • Access to our vast library of Risk Assessments and Method Statements
  • Help filling out PQQ’s (Health & Safety advice)
  • Advice and support reporting any RIDDOR  accidents or incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
  • Ability to gain expert reliable advice instantly

If you think we may be able to help you on a monthly basis please get in touch.

How to make sure you are compliant in 2016

Insight by

amanda

Amanda Lambert

Published on

22 December 2015

Competent person

How to make sure you are compliant in 2016 – Health & Safety Legislation

Throughout the year the HSE release various updates to existing legislation in order to ensure that the legislation stay current and suitable for the changing workplaces we all work in.

There are various ways for you find this information out:

  • Periodically visit the HSE website to see if there are any changes posted.
  • Search online to see if you can find anything.
  • Become a member of a professional body
  • Sign up to various magazines.
  • Outsource your Competent Safety Advisor resource.

As part of our Competent Safety Advisor service we ensure that on a monthly basis you are provided with all changes should they affect you or not. That way you are fully informed and up to date on all changes and can make the business decision yourselves if you need to be aware.

There are additional benefits to our service that can ensure that going into 2016 Health & Safety isnt something yo need to worry about you can concentrate on your business.

  • A comprehensive Health and Safety Management System – complete with policies, procedures, forms, checklists, etc to ensure compliance with legislation
  • Development of your company Health and Safety Policy
  • Development of a company employee handbook
  • Development of an Environmental Policy
  • Assistance in Accident Reporting to Enforcing Authorities/Accident Investigation
  • Liaison with Enforcing Authorities on your behalf
  • Access to telephone advice on an unlimited number of occasions
  • Updates on any changes in Health and Safety legislation

Below is a copy of our latest legislation updates, if you think we may be able to help you on a monthly basis please get in touch.

Legislation/Consultation In Force/
Closes
Need to Know Applies In Resource
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 23rd Dec 15 Transitional period for projects started before April 2015 ends. Works with more than one contractor must have appointed a principal designer. GB hse.gov.uk
Transportation of Directive 2013/35/EU on exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) 3rd Dec 15 Proposed Control of Electromagnetic Fields at Work Regulations will require duty holders to assess exposure to EMFs GB hse.gov.uk
Deregulation Act 2015 3rd Dec 15 Turban wearing Sikhs do not have to wear head protection in any industries. GB hse.gov.uk
The Health and safety at Work ect. Act 1974 (General Duties of Self-Employed Persons ) (Prescribed Undertakings) Regulations 2015 Oct-15 Changes the law to exempt self-employed people whose work activity poses no potential risk to other workers or the public. GB hse.gov.uk
Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case ect) Regulations 2015 Jul- 15 Applies to offshore oil and gas operators, interoperating additional requirements of directive 2013/30/EU GB External Waters hse.gov.uk
Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH) 2015 Jun-15 Main Duties unchanged from 1999 regs; lower tier operators must provide public information about their site and its hazards for the first time; both upper tier and lower tier operators must provide public information electronically. GB hse.gov.uk
Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 May-15 Workers undertaking non-licensed work for the first time must have a medical examination before they start. England and Wales legislation.gov.uk
Construction (Design and Management) regulations 2015 Apr-15 CDM coordinator replaced with principal designer, prescriptive requirements for duty holders to check contractors’ competence removed, CDM duties extended to domestic clients. GB hse.gov.uk
Road Traffic Act 1988 Mar-15 Section 5 amended to include an offence of driving under the influence of a controlled drug – including some prescription medications. England and Wales lexisurl.com