It is clearly good practice for Safety Policies to be signed and dated. I've recently been challenged on this and can't find the legal reference to support this. Very probably a case of looking too hard, or being unable to see the wood for the trees. Can someone gently nudge me in the right direction please? Thanks

That's because there is no legal requirement for your MD to sign the company safety policy. hence no reference to it shall be found, to do so.

The signing and dating of the safety policy statement takes ownership of the policy for that specified date by the employer to meet the requirements of HSWA '74, Section 2(3). It should be reviewed periodically to ensure it remains relevant to the undertaking.

I argued this with the MD when implementing a system to HSG65. HSG65 (p11) states "Effective policies are not simply examples of management paying lip service to improved health and safety performance but a genuine commitment to action" It's best practice for the policy statement to carry a signature of a high level person to demonstrate top down commitment.

Do you really mean that if the bit of paper on the wall has a signature on it then that is sufficient to "demonstrate top down commitment", and if it doesn't have a signature that proves that "it is not committed to best practice"? A bit of paper on a wall (let alone whether it is signed or not) does not prove or demonstrate any such thing, in my opinion. It's nothing but fine words, and it remains nothing but fine words regardless of whether that bit of paper has a signature.

achrn Agree the paper on its own proves nowt. However whether the MD chooses to sign it, ie. conform to best practice, or not is an indicator of the type and thought patterns of the management. It ios the little things that can show our true values. Bob

Well put!

I actually think that the requirement for A Safety Policy Statement has out lived its usefulness. When enacted in 1974 the idea was a company would state their own commitment to health and safety. Now the HSE produce a number of templates you can sign - and I see the same statement produced by national consultant's in different premises where only the signature differs - show commitment to health and safety? Sadly I think not! Brian

Betta, if an unsigned policy statement indicates a "no quote" or "decline" then I suggest that something stinks in the insurance world. I am now somewhat shifting opinion on policy statements. They are too often templates that do not represent what actually happens and what the senior management attitude really is. Mere paper statements that mean little.

sadlass - insurance does not dictate that much, we are in a very soft market and it would be a very silly insurer who declined to quote just because a policy statement was not signed or some other piece of paperwork was missing. Like Betta, I'm an assessor for an insurer that specialises in high risk industries. My look at the policy statement will take around 1 minute out of a 2 hour site meeting with the client. It is a minor part. However, I do like to see it signed but more importantly the date. I've come across construction firms using documents from 1998 so that would suggest they paid a consultant in 98 and did not bother to retain their services. CDM, WAH, noise and vibration regs will have probably escaped their attention as well and the risk would be poor. If I see a regularly reviewed document with ownership by top level management I can move on to the next part of the survey, happy that I am dealing with a firm that takes such matters seriously. At the end of the day, why should two construction contractors of similar size and client mix pay the same insurance premium if firm a is jumping through all the hoops with flying colours while firm b is making do with old documents and copy and paste jobs from t'internet? This is why we assess our clients - we want to retain the good firms and the poor ones can take a hike at renewal time.

Wow Betta It‘s at times like this that I am glad I work for an organisation that does not insure. Paperwork for the sake of paperwork.

We've got 6 signatures on ours!! I've also got a commitment charter for a sub division that has all the employees signatures on it. It is displayed next to the policy. Although I do accept your strong argument that paper is expensive and wall space limited.