HSE: New template could save money

A new electronic template from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to aid the risk management of small and medium-sized businesses could save HR departments both time and money, the group has asserted.

The template combines into one document the requirements of a health and safety policy, risk assessment and a written record of health and safety arrangements.

Following tests of the template, 90 per cent of users claimed it had allowed them to compile their own risk assessments more quickly, with the time spent doing this being cut by half on average.

Furthermore, almost three-quarters of the businesses which made use of the given examples found them to be either very good or excellent.

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HSE chair Judith Hackitt said: "We want to help get the message to small and medium-sized companies that risk assessments needn’t be time consuming, bureaucratic or complicated. But they are essential to managing dangers in the workplace."

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health recently claimed that workplace health and safety policies need to be flexible in order to manage staff with underlying medical conditions.