Health, Safety and Working Environment

It is a legal requiement of businesses to have a good level of of health and saftey precautions in place. Employees have to have a high level of prtection whilst in the work place. Having good standards of health and safety can benefit a company. Poor health and saftey implementation can result in accidents or even illness, this can have an adverse affect on a business.
A businesses energy consumption could be reduced if a good heath and saftey regime is applied and followed, profits could increase too. The general public as well as other businesses will want to use your services if they see that you are trying to do your best for the environment as well as your workers.

Compliance with health, safety and environmental rules

You have a legal responsibility for the health and safety of anyone that may be affected by your business. Health and Saftey issues to address include:

• Assessing the health and safety risks that are present within the business
• Drawing up a health and safety policy - this must be in writing if you have five employees or more,
• Make sure your workplace meets and complys with at least the minimum standards of comfort and cleanliness
• An accident book should be used to record serious injuries, diseases or dangerous accidents that happen within the business and it's premisses. Accidents should be reported to a relevant authority within the business.

There are also rules and regulations which you must follow and comply with if your business could in any way harm the environment:

• Business waste - the disposal of harmful substances, hazardous or toxic waste should be lawfully implemented.
• Wastewater should be disposed of lawfully
• emissions into the air should be monitored and kept within environmental regulations
• packaging - there are packaging waste compliance schemes

Severe consequences are there to stop businesses acting illegally. A fine, prison sentence or even the closing down of a company could be imposed on those who break the rules.

Avoid the costs of illness, accidents and incidents at work

The cost of failing to put good health and safety measures in place can be high. Illness and injuries resulting from the flouting of these enviromental measures could result in large costs:

• A person who is injured or deemed ill because of their work place will probably be entitled to be paid their wage for a period of time.
• Productivity may slow down due to disruption to your business or having to replace someone with inexperienced staff.
• Products, equipment or your premises may be damaged.damage to products, equipment or your premises
• costs of investigating and correcting a problem may take its toll on productivity.
• You could be fined if you are prosecuted for negligence within the business premisses or grounds.

If in a company with with few employees, 1 person being away from work due to illness or injury could be very costly.

Even if you have insurance it could fail to cover the costs of an incident, plus if a claim is made, future premiums could rise.

Introduce environmental cost-reductions

Minimizing waste, from reducing your use of raw materials to cutting down on energy consumption, is one of the most effective steps you can take to protect the environment. It could also reduce your costs.

Simple steps such as switching off equipment at night will reduce your costs as well as emissions. This is one of many money and planet saving tips that you should think about. Make sure equipment is inspected and serviced regularly.The cost of investments in energy and water-saving technologies often qualifies for capital allowances, which you can use to reduce your tax bill.

Health, safety and environmental practices and your insurance costs

Health, safety and environmental problems can have huge costs. Your business could be held responsible for decontaminating land affected by leaks of hazardous substances from your premisses. If a person is injured due to your business the costs of a claim could be great.

Insurance provides some protection, though it rarely covers all the costs of accidents or illnesses. As a legal minimum, you must have employers' liability insurance if you have employees, you may also need insurance against other risks, such as gradual environmental pollution over several years, clean-up costs or product liability.

Being able to show that your business has sound health and safety and environmental policies and procedures is essential if you want to get competitive insurance premiums. If insurers aren't happy with your approach to health, safety and the environment, your premiums will go up.

Plan ahead to get health, safety and the environment right

The best approach to managing environmental and health and safety issues is to get the right procedures and practices in place from the start - and then monitor them regularly to ensure they're still appropriate. You are legally required to carry out a thorough health and safety risk assessment.