Health & Safety when you have 5 employees or more

As soon as you have 5 employees or more, you have a legal requirement to comply with all work-related health and safety legislation.

Your obligations are outlined in the Safety at Work Regulations 1974.

How this changes from less than five employees is you now need to ensure you have:

• Written Health and Safety Policy
• Written Health and Safety Policy Statement
• Written Risk Assessments
• COSHH assessments
• Toolbox talks
• A competent person either within your business or a consultant.

We act as competent people for over 800 companies. When we act as your competent person, we will complete all the documents you need to comply and keep the documents up to date as legislation changes. You also have access to over 1,000 documents including risk and method statements, COSHH data, toolbox talks, and more. We charge a small monthly fee. The fee does not cover the costs during the first year, but over time, it does.

If you are not sure exactly what your business will require, you can find details on it by visiting the HSE website. Every business is different, and a competent person will be able to cover all aspects for you.

If you wish to employ your own competent person, they should be fully qualified in all aspects of Health & Safety; this can prove to be an expensive requirement if you employ them full-time. 

There are a number of resources on the HSE website that will be able to help you with any changes that may affect you as you continue to grow.

We are a friendly and professional team of people working to help and support like-minded people to get on with their work as we work in the background.

Complete the form on this page and we will arrange a call so you can learn more, call 0800 031 5404

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Remote Competent Safety Advisor Vs Onsite Visiting

We often get asked the question about our Competent Safety Advisor Service to see what the benefits are compared to having someone employed onsite. The obvious one is cost, it is much more cost effective to have a remote competent person as a service, a service like ours starts from £50 per month compared to a full time salary.

Why use an outsourced service?

• We supply a comprehensive Health and Safety Management System
• We develop a bespoke company Health and Safety Policy for your business
• We work with you to develop a company employee handbook
• We develop an Environmental Policy specific to you
• We provide assistance in Accident Reporting to Enforcing Authorities/Accident Investigation
• We will liaison with Enforcing Authorities on your behalf

Ongoing support

• Access to telephone advice on an unlimited number of occasions
• Updates on any changes in Health and Safety legislation
• Access to over 80 risk assessments and various supporting documentation held on our website
• Yearly review of all documentation and revised documents issued
• Monthly newsletters giving you latest Health & Safety News as well as legislation updates.

With over 200 clients we provide a comprehensive service that is affordable and reliable so SME’s can have peace of mind that they are compliant with their legal obligations.

There are no hidden fees and we pride ourselves with having an 95% retention record year on year. You can see testimonials on our website or on Trust pilot which is an independent review platform.

If you would like to speak to us or get more information please get in touch.

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The difference between Safety Advisor and Competent Person

Ensuring you have the right level of support and advice for your Health & Safety is abit of a mine field and can be defined simply by the number of employees you have.

Less than 5 employees = Safety Advisor

This service is where you are offered support and advice when needed, this tends to be a one of payment where you will be given a service agreement, certificate and a CV to show the qualifications of the person who is providing you with the advice. Paperwork such as off the shelf risk assessments and risk assessments and Method statements would be provided on an as and when basis should you need them.

More than 5 employees = Competent Person

This service is where you pay a monthly retainer fee for continued support and advice should you need it. This service is where your consultant becomes part of your business and should be informed of anything that changes within the organisation. In this service you will be provided with a full Safety Management System including full Health & Safety Policy, Equal opportunities policy and Staff handbook. Your consultant will be on hand to be the link between you and the HSE should this ever be necessary.

Whilst not every company is black and white like this the rule of thumb tends to be the details above. You may be asked by a client to prove you have a dedicated support for Health & Safety resource as well as a policy with less than 5 employees if that is the case you would need fall outside of the rule.

If you are not sure about your personal circumstances please get in touch we are happy to go through everything with you.

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The pros of outsourcing defiently outweigh the cons, but before you form a partnership with an Health & Safety consultant you must learn all you can about outsourcing. Once you are fully informed you can decide if outsourcing is right for your business and how it can help you.

Following is a list of pros and cons of outsourcing:

Pros of Outsourcing

• Up to date professional advice when you need it
• Gives you access to skilled professionals at low cost
• The confidence in knowing your legal duties are covered
• Reduces your cost of doing business, as you save on infrastructure, workforce, hiring costs, training costs, and technology and software investments
• Allows you to focus more on your core business functions

Cons of Outsourcing

• You will have to rely on the expertise of another company without fully understanding all the detail yourself
• You need to ensure that your outsource partner is available for your working hours not just theirs
• You need to understand turn around times and accept them
• You may not be able to get what you want when you want it
• You have to trust the information they provide is accurate and up to date

Outsourcing your Health & Safety resource can give your business the competitive edge it requires to win work and be successful on tenders.

If anything, the disadvantages of outsourcing give you the opportunity to think before-hand about the things you need to keep in mind when selecting an outsourcing partner.

If you are looking to outsource your Health & Safety we can support you, get in touch.

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Covering your Heath & Safety needs for 2023

If your looking to outsource you Health & Safety Competent Advice in 2023 there are a number of reasons why you should pick Seguro:

• We provide a full Health & Safety Management System including a policy, employee handbook and an environmental policy.
• Access to telephone advice on an unlimited number of occasions
• We provide monthly newsletters detailing latest legislation, HSE news and any updates we need to share
• We post blogs on a weekly basis of informative information for your business
• Access to our vast library of Risk Assessments and Method Statements
• Help filling out PQQ’s (Health & Safety advice)
• Advice and support reporting any RIDDOR  accidents or incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
• Ability to gain expert reliable advice instantly

If you think we may be able to help you on a monthly basis please get in touch.

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How to make sure you are compliant in 2016 – Health & Safety Legislation

Throughout the year the HSE release various updates to existing legislation in order to ensure that the legislation stay current and suitable for the changing workplaces we all work in.

There are various ways for you find this information out:

• Periodically visit the HSE website to see if there are any changes posted.
• Search online to see if you can find anything.
• Become a member of a professional body
• Sign up to various magazines.
• Outsource your Competent Safety Advisor resource.

As part of our Competent Safety Advisor service we ensure that on a monthly basis you are provided with all changes should they affect you or not. That way you are fully informed and up to date on all changes and can make the business decision yourselves if you need to be aware.

There are additional benefits to our service that can ensure that going into 2016 Health & Safety isnt something yo need to worry about you can concentrate on your business.

• A comprehensive Health and Safety Management System – complete with policies, procedures, forms, checklists, etc to ensure compliance with legislation
• Development of your company Health and Safety Policy
• Development of a company employee handbook
• Development of an Environmental Policy
• Assistance in Accident Reporting to Enforcing Authorities/Accident Investigation
• Liaison with Enforcing Authorities on your behalf
• Access to telephone advice on an unlimited number of occasions
• Updates on any changes in Health and Safety legislation

Below is a copy of our latest legislation updates, if you think we may be able to help you on a monthly basis please get in touch.

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