Health and Safety Policy

Health and Safety Policy

[Employer name] is committed to providing and maintaining, as far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of our employees, and to protecting other people, such as visitors and contractors, who may be affected by our work. This policy applies from [Effective date] and is reviewed at least once a year.

1. Responsibilities

• The chief executive officer, [Chief executive officer / head of business], is responsible for making sure the employer's duties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 are discharged, and may assign duties in writing to others.
• [Person responsible for day-to-day health and safety] is responsible for day-to-day health and safety, inspections and keeping records.
• Managers make sure their areas are safe, their teams are trained and the rules are followed.
• Employees must take reasonable care of their own and others' health and safety, follow safety rules, use protective equipment provided, and report hazards, incidents and unsafe conditions.

2. Hazards and risk assessment

We identify hazards and assess risks in each workplace and for each task, with the people who do the work, and review them when work, equipment or the workplace changes. Our main hazards include: [Main hazards in your workplace]. We remove or control hazards at the source first, and use protective equipment only for the risk that remains.

3. Information and training

Every new employee receives a health and safety induction before starting work. We provide the training and supervision needed to do each job safely, and keep training records. Contractors are briefed on site rules before they begin.

4. Consultation

Where the Act requires it, we designate health and safety representatives and set up a health and safety committee that meets at least every three months. Representatives may inspect the workplace, examine incidents and make recommendations, and we give them time, facilities and training.

5. Emergencies and first aid

[First aid and emergency arrangements]

6. Incidents

Every injury, illness and near miss must be reported to [Who incidents are reported to] at once and recorded. We investigate the cause and take corrective action. Incidents the law requires us to report to an inspector or the Compensation Fund are reported within the required time. After a serious incident, the scene is not disturbed until an inspector allows it, except to rescue people or prevent further harm.

7. Review

We review this policy, our risk assessments and our incident records at least once a year.