Providing a safe and healthy workplace

This section helps you to provide proper health and safety facilities for your and any customers or other visitors to your business premises, including people. You will find out who is responsible and what you are legally required to provide. From making sure you have enough toilets and properly signing your emergency exits to having proper firefighting equipment and first-aid kits, making sure you have the right kit is an important part of health and safety for your business.

Fitting out new premises with health and safety in mind

  1. 1.What health and safety requirements must I consider when fitting out my premises?
  2. 2.Do I have to get all the health and safety facilities listed here?
  3. 3.Do I have to consider health and safety facilities if I run a business from my home?
  4. 4.What happens if I do not provide proper facilities in my business premises?

Responsibility for providing health and safety facilities

  1. 5.If I rent business premises, is my landlord responsible for the health and safety facilities?
  2. 6.Who is responsible for health and safety in the common areas of my building?
  3. 7.Who is responsible for the health and safety of my business premises if I share them with another business?

Hygiene and welfare

  1. 8.What drinking water facilities do I need to comply with health and safety law?
  2. 9.How many toilets and washbasins do I need to provide for my staff?
  3. 10.Do I have to provide hot water, soap and hand towels in my staff toilets?
  4. 11.Do I have to provide sanitary bins in women's toilets?
  5. 12.What toilet and washing facilities do I need for customers or visitors to my business premises?
  6. 13.Do I have to provide separate toilets for men and women?
  7. 14.Must I provide showers for my staff?
  8. 15.Must I provide a rest area for my staff?
  9. 16.Do I have to provide a rest area for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding?
  10. 17.Does my rest area have to be separate from the work areas of my business premises?
  11. 18.Do I have to provide changing facilities for my staff?
  12. 19.If I have to provide changing facilities for my staff, what must they include?
  13. 20.Do I have to provide clothes storage for my staff?

Physical layout

  1. 21.Do I have to give staff a minimum amount of space to work?
  2. 22.How do I arrange the layout of my business premises to comply with health and safety law?
  3. 23.Do I have to install non-slip flooring?
  4. 24.Must I put handrails on all staircases?
  5. 25.Do all my windows and glazed doors have to use safety glass?
  6. 26.What safety features must the doors in my premises have?

Signage

  1. 27.Do I have to display a health and safety poster?
  2. 28.Do I have to display no-smoking signs?
  3. 29.Do I need signs to my emergency exits?
  4. 30.What should my emergency exit signs look like?
  5. 31.Where should I put my emergency exit signs?
  6. 32.Do I need signs for my firefighting equipment?
  7. 33.What should my signs to firefighting equipment look like?
  8. 34.Do I have to have warning signs for hazards like low ceilings or beams?

Comfortable working environment

  1. 35.In summary, how do I make workstations that comply with health and safety law?
  2. 36.Do I have to keep my premises at a particular temperature?
  3. 37.Do I have to have thermometers to monitor the temperature of my premises?
  4. 38.Are there any ventilation requirements for my premises?
  5. 39.Are there any minimum lighting requirements for my premises?

Electrical safety

  1. 40.What must I do to ensure any electrical installation is health and safety compliant?

Health and safety facilities for people with disabilities

  1. 41.Do I have to make any changes to my premises for disabled staff?
  2. 42.Do I have to make any changes to my business premises for disabled customers or visitors?
  3. 43.Can I ask a disabled person to contribute to the cost of accommodating their disability?
  4. 44.How can I ensure proper access for disabled staff?
  5. 45.How can I ensure proper toilet facilities for disabled staff?
  6. 46.How do I provide proper workstations for disabled staff?
  7. 47.What break facilities must I provide for disabled staff?
  8. 48.Do I have to provide disabled parking?
  9. 49.What happens if I do not meet the needs of disabled staff or visitors to my business premises?

Fire safety

  1. 50.In summary, how do I make sure my premises comply with fire safety regulations?
  2. 51.Do I have to coordinate with the others on fire safety in a multi-occupancy building?
  3. 52.Do I need a fire detection and warning system?
  4. 53.What sort of fire detection and warning system should I have?
  5. 54.What emergency exits and escape routes do I need?
  6. 55.Can I lock my emergency exit doors?
  7. 56.Do I need emergency lighting for my escape routes and emergency exits?
  8. 57.What firefighting equipment do I need?
  9. 58.How many fire extinguishers do I need?
  10. 59.Where should I put my fire extinguishers?
  11. 60.What happens if I fail to comply with fire safety requirements?

First-aid equipment and facilities

  1. 61.Do I need a first-aid kit?
  2. 62.Do I need to provide a first aid room?

Health and safety signs

It is important to have proper, legally compliant health and safety signs in your workplace. This simple downloadable guide shows you the different types of signs you might need and what the regulations say they must look like. It covers: no smoking; emergency exits/escape routes; firefighting equipment; and first aid signs. For full guidance on the common types of health and safety signage you are likely to need around your workplace and where to display those signs, see Signage .

Annual action plan (health and safety)

This annual action plan (health and safety) helps you plan your health and safety actions for the year. It sets out the most common health and safety checks you are likely to need to complete (on a daily, weekly, monthly, six monthly, annually, and five yearly basis) and allows you to efficiently record your comments. You can also add your own actions specific to your business. In addition to this annual action plan (health and safety) you must complete regular risk assessments. You can find these templates at General risk assessment for a shop or other business open to customers , General risk assessment for an office , General risk assessment for remote workers , and Fire safety risk assessment .
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