Health and safety policy for a small business

A business with five or more employees must have a written health and safety policy, and a business of any size must assess its risks, appoint a competent person, provide first aid, manage fire safety, report accidents and consult its staff. For a small business in an office, a shop or a workshop the policy can be short, but it has to exist, describe the arrangements the business has, and be followed. I draft the policy for the employer as part of the handbook and core policies for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days; the risk assessments themselves are the employer's, with specialist help where the risks need it.

Who this is for

Small businesses in England and Wales with five or more employees in low-risk settings, and businesses in higher-risk trades who need the policy framework their specialist adviser's risk assessments will sit in.

What matters in a small business health and safety policy

The written policy the law requires at five employees

Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires an employer with five or more employees to prepare a written statement of its general policy on health and safety, the organisation and arrangements for carrying it out, to revise it as necessary and to bring it to the notice of employees; the duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of employees and others affected applies to every employer whatever its size, and the written policy is the document that shows how the small business meets it. The policy should be signed by the owner or a director, dated and reviewed annually.

The statement, the organisation and the arrangements

The policy should have the three parts the Act contemplates: a short statement of intent signed by the person at the top, the organisation (who is responsible for what: the owner or director overall, the competent person for advice, managers for their areas, every employee for their own and others' safety under section 7 of the Act), and the arrangements (the practical procedures for the risks the business has: risk assessments, first aid, fire, accidents, display screen equipment, manual handling, electrical safety, hazardous substances where used, driving, lone working, homeworking); the arrangements should describe what the business does rather than what a textbook says.

Risk assessments and the competent person

Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to employees and others, recorded where there are five or more employees, and regulation 7 requires the appointment of one or more competent persons to help the employer comply, who may be the owner or a manager with the right training for a low-risk business or an external adviser for a higher-risk one; the policy should name the competent person, say how risk assessments are carried out and reviewed, and refer to the assessments the business holds (the general workplace assessment, the display screen assessments under the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, fire, new and expectant mothers, young workers, lone working).

First aid, fire, accidents and reporting

The policy should state the first aid arrangements under the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 (the first aid kit, the appointed person or trained first aider the assessment identifies, the notice telling staff who and where), the fire safety arrangements under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the fire risk assessment, the responsible person, alarms, extinguishers, escape routes, drills), the accident book, and the reporting of specified injuries, over-seven-day injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences to the Health and Safety Executive under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013; a small business that has never heard of the reporting regulations is the one that fails to report.

Consultation, training and information for staff

The policy should say how the employer consults employees on health and safety matters under the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 (directly, in a business of this size, or through representatives), the induction and training staff receive (on the policy, the risks of their work, the emergency procedures, equipment they use), the information displayed (the approved health and safety law poster or the equivalent leaflet, the insurance certificate, the first aid and fire notices), and the way staff raise concerns; training records are what the inspector asks for after an incident.

Insurance, contractors, visitors and homeworkers

The policy should state that the employer holds employer's liability insurance under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 and displays the certificate, how contractors working on the premises are managed (their risk assessments, the information they are given, the coordination of work), how visitors are protected (signing in, escorts, the duties under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957), and how homeworkers are covered (the homeworking assessment, the display screen arrangements, reporting); the policy for a small business should be a document the owner can read in ten minutes and apply, and the specialist risk assessments for a higher-risk trade sit beneath it.

What it costs

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

We are an office of six. Do we need a health and safety policy?

A written policy is required from five employees: a statement, the organisation and the arrangements, signed and brought to staff's attention. For an office it is short, but it must exist and describe what the business does.

Who should be our competent person?

For a low-risk business, the owner or a manager with the right training; for a higher-risk trade, an external adviser. The policy names them and says what they do.

Does the policy include our risk assessments?

It refers to them and sets the process; the assessments themselves are the employer's to carry out, with specialist help where the risks need it. The policy is the framework they sit in.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £995, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Staff handbook for a business with five employees
• Homeworking policy

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.