Answer to Question 3:

Dear Paula

In accordance with section 20 of the Safety Health & welfare At work Act 2005 ““Every employer shall prepare…..a written…safety statement, based on the identification of the hazards and the risk assessment…specifying the manner in which the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees shall be secured and managed” .  The updated Safety Statement will be your Safety Management System in writing i.e. you must write down how you are managing health and Safety.  The Statement must be based on a specific Risk Assessment and must not be a generic document.  You could break your Safety Statement down into two sections/documents: 

1. Management Control Document

• Safety Policy Statement

• Responsibilities of key people

• Employee co-operation

• Procedures and systems of workTraining Standards

 2. Department/Section/Area Document

• Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment

 To meet the requirements of the new legislation the updated Safety Statement must specify:

• The arrangements made for safeguarding the S,H & W of employees
• The resources provided for safeguarding S,H & W
• The co-operation required from employees as regards S,H & W
• The names and job titles of responsible persons including authorised deputies
• The details of the plans and procedures to be followed in the event of an emergency

Employers shall also require contractors to be in possession of an up-to-date safety statement.  Where there are specific tasks that pose a serious risk, the employer should bring the relevant extracts in the safety statement to the attention of those affected.  The Safety Statement must be brought to employees’ attention on commencement of employment, following any amendments and at least annually.

As stated your Safety Statement must be based on the hazard identification and risk assessment process.  Risk assessments must be related to the place of work (location specific) for which the Safety Statement is written.