How to avoid a HSE prosecution

As a small business owner, you will be responsible for the health and safety management of your workplace.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) warn that employers must do whatever is reasonably possible in order to fulfill their responsibility in protecting the health, safety and welfare of their employees, as well as any other persons that may be affected by their business operations.

Any kind of business will need to make sure that staff, customers, and suppliers are all protected from anything that could cause harm, by controlling any risks to injury or health that could arise in the workplace.

It is a legal obligation that small businesses carry out a risk assessment. This will identify and more importantly, address all risks that have the potential to cause harm in the workplace. If any risks are identified, it is important that all staff are informed and given full training on how to deal with it.

As the business owner, you should know your business better than anyone else. By following these steps in our ‘How do I carry out a risk assessment guide’, you can be sure that you avoid any future accidents, which are likely to lead to prosecution.

After carrying out a thorough risk assessment, you should have investigated every aspect of your business operations in great depth.

What if I miss something?

In the unfortunate eventuality that something critical had been missed from the assessment, and someone

suffers an injury in your workplace, it could be very damaging for you and your business. If you were to realise something had been missed beforehand, the risk needs to be addressed as soon as it is acknowledged and added to the risk assessment.

It is important you know the penalties for breaching a health and safety law. Although it would have been an accident, in the word of business this would be classed as neglect.

If you were ever unfortunate enough to experience such an incident, employers’ liability insurance or public liability insurance may be extremely useful to you. These policies provide protection when an employee, a customer, client or a member of the general public are injured or their property damaged by your business operation.

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