By law, all businesses should have a health and safety policy and this is no different for lift and escalator companies. It should be specific to the industry, relating to lift regulations, ISOs and, above all, cover the areas that could affect the health and safety of employees both on and off-site. This overview explains what should be included in a lift and escalator health and safety policy, so you can assess whether it’s time to review yours.
The basics
According to the HSE*, a health and safety policy should cover three areas. These include:
1. A statement of intent, which should be regularly reviewed and signed by a senior person in the company;
2. Responsibilities for health and safety, which includes the names, positions and roles of people, and;
3. Arrangements for health and safety with details of the practicalities you have in place and how you will achieve your health and safety policy aims.
The detail
While the HSE guidelines may seem straightforward, once you get into the detail, you’ll find there is a lot more to it. In fact, your policy is likely to be at least forty pages long and this will also need to be reviewed annually by someone in the company or by an external health and safety consultant.
The main sections in a lift policy will generally include the following:
- Section 1 – Company policy statement, including a company accident prevention policy.
- Section 2 – Responsibilities that include an organisation chart for health and safety and a breakdown of the responsibilities for each person listed on the chart.
- Section 3 – Emergency Procedures that should be reported.
- Section 4 – General arrangements, covering everything from general safety procedures, training, first aid, hot works, manual handling, noise, confined spaces and so on, with details of measures that should be taken in each case.
- Section 5 – Training, which takes into account training needs for new employees, on-going training and refresher training, as well as training for young people carrying out work experience.
- Section 6 – Health Surveillance and how the company will protect the health of its employees and the actions for reporting sickness.
While you should have a designated health and safety team, there will be one senior person, such as a Managing Director, who holds overall responsibility. It is this person who should ensure that all employees and sub-contractors are aware of the information in the policy, and the duties imposed on them by health and safety regulations and the policy, to ensure a safe and healthy working environment.
Reviews
Checks, such as site checks should be carried out by a designated person to ensure all employees are adhering to the policy and any breaches are reported. There should also be agreed meetings throughout the year, attended by the health and safety team, to discuss health and safety performance and any improvements that can be made. This will also cover any changes in legislation, working practices, equipment being used, key personnel and any major incidents or near misses. If these occur they should be amended in the policy document as required.
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*https://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/policy/how-to-write-your-policy.htm
