A Safety Statement is your action programme, in writing, setting out how health and safety is managed in the workplace. It needs to be kept up to date (Health and Safety Authority)

Under Section 20 of the 2005 Act, every employer shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, a written safety statement based on the identification of the hazards and the risk assessment carried out as detailed in Section 19 of the legislation, specifying the manner in which the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees shall be secured and managed.

The Safety Statement should begin with a declaration signed at senior management level, spelling out your policy in relation to overall health and safety performance and indicating relevant objects.

A hazard is anything that could cause harm. Walk around your premises and look at what could reasonably be expected to cause harm. Ignore the trivial and concentrate on those hazards that could cause serious harm or affect several people. Ask employees what they think – they may have noticed things which are not immediately obvious. Write down the hazards you have found.

Risk assessment is a systematic examination of all aspects of work, to consider what could cause injury or harm, whether hazards can be eliminated and if not, what preventative measure can be put in place.

Key Stages of Risk Assessment & Control

You will already have some safety precautions in place. Your risk assessment will tell you whether these are adequate or more should be done. Where you have found a hazard that needs to be managed, ask yourself:

• Can I get rid of the hazard altogether?
• Can I change the way the job is done so as to make it safer?
• If not, what safety precautions are necessary?

Remember to compare the situation found with that set out in the relevant health and safety legislation, code of practice or authoritative standards/guidance appropriate to the hazard. Write the precautions down.

You will have written down the results of actions 1 to 4 in your Safety Statement. Give your employees access to the Safety Statement and explain to them what they must do.

Review your Safety Statement at least once a year. Are you and your employees complying with the precautions you set down? Have new and significant hazards been introduced into the workplace and does the Safety Statement need to be amended to take them into account?