Need help meeting your responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act?
The Act places wide-ranging duties on employers and applies to all organisations. Our expert support makes staying compliant simple.
- A comprehensive audit of your current practices by qualified experts
- 24/7 dedicated consultant support for peace of mind
- Excellent value for money with genuinely fixed fees
Get in touch to arrange a
FREE 30 minute chat.
Free Download: Definitive Guide to General Risk Assessments
Identify Risks and keep your business compliant with this free guide.
How we help
Your trusted health and safety partner
Not all organisations have access to competent health and safety support in house. Even if you do, you may need a little extra help from time to time. WorkNest’s fixed-fee Health & Safety service gives you access to the expertise and support you need.
A cost-effective solution to your safety needs, our comprehensive service covers everything from on-site audits to emergency assistance in the event of a serious safety incident.
We will get to know your organisation so that we can function as an extension to your team. And with our unlimited, fixed-fee service, you can call on us as often as you need, safe in the knowledge that you won’t pay more.
- Ongoing advice and support from a named Health & Safety specialist
- Simple software to help you monitor and manage compliance easily
- Expert help with policies, risk assessments, audits and more
If you’re not sure where to start, we can conduct a full health and safety audit (General Risk Assessment) to assess your current compliance status and put an action plan in place. If you have a specific need, including training, our qualified Health & Safety specialists have the skills, experience and technical ability to assist you.
Protect against rising penalties
The consequences of a health and safety incident can be devastating. As well as the impact on individuals, the financial consequences for employers can be significant, inviting Fee for Intervention charges, fines, prosecution, absences and reputational damage. In some cases, directors have been jailed.
It’s therefore important to get it right. By enlisting support from WorkNest, you can rest easy knowing that your compliance is being taken care of by a professionally-qualified Health & Safety Consultant with a wealth of hands-on risk management experience.
Get support now
We provide solutions-focused, hands-on help with all aspects of health and safety. From COVID-19 and homeworking to vehicle safety and COSHH, get dedicated specialist advice, combined with software and resources to keep you compliant.
How large does my business need to be for health and safety legislation to impact me?
Health and safety legislation applies to all business regardless of size or sector, and all employers have a duty to ensure that health and safety is effectively managed within the workplace. This duty extends to both employees and any non-employees that may be affected by your activities – including clients, visitors and members of the public. It also applies regardless of whether employees are working on your premises or off site at another location. All employers, for example, must conduct risk assessments to identify and mitigate potential causes of harm. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises that the approach you take should be proportionate to the size of your business and the nature of your business activity. For most small, low-risk businesses, the steps you need to take are straightforward. If you have fewer than five employees, you don’t have to write down your risk assessment or your health and safety policy. WorkNest can help you to strike the right balance and take a sensible, proportionate approach to risk.
What types of health and safety legislation do I need to follow?
The two primary pieces of health and safety legislation that all employers need to be aware of are the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. In a nutshell, the HSWA places a general duty on employers to ensure, so far as is “reasonably practicable”, the health and safety and welfare of all their employees while at work, while the Management Regulations set out more specific requirements, such as the requirement to make a “suitable and sufficient” assessment of risks, appoint “competent persons”, provide workers with information and training, and operate a written health and safety policy.
Of course, other legislation may apply depending on the activities you undertake, such as the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, Manual Handling Operations 1992 and the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 which each have their own provisions that employers must be alert to.
What could happen if I breach health and safety law?
This depends on the circumstances – penalties for contravening health and safety law range from an enforcement notice requiring you to rectify an issue identified or stop an unsafe activity, to fines and imprisonment. If an HSE Inspector visits your workplace and finds that you are in material breach of health and safety law, you will also have to pay for the time it takes to put things right. This is known as Fee for Intervention and currently costs £157 an hour.
What is the average fine for a health and safety breach?
According to the latest HSE statistics, the average fine per conviction in 2019/20 was £110,000. This represents an increase of 307% since tougher sentencing guidelines were introduced in 2016 (in 2014/15, the average fine was £27,000 per conviction). If you’re concerned about the impact this could have on your bottom line, WorkNest can work with you to ensure compliance and dramatically reduce risk. What’s more, our optional Legal Expenses Insurance covers the costs of defending health and safety prosecutions (plus Fee for Intervention charges and appealing against the serving of an improvement or prohibition notice) for an added layer of protection.
Do I need to appoint someone to manage health and safety compliance?
Yes. Under Regulation 7 of the Management Regulations, “every employer shall, subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), appoint one or more competent persons” – someone with the necessary training, experience, knowledge and “other qualities” to help you comply with the requirements of health and safety law. If you don’t have somebody in-house who meets this criteria, the HSE says you can appoint an external professional such as WorkNest to help you.
Do I need to consider work organisation hazards for staff currently working at home?
Regulators have a number of options if they believe that a breach of health and safety law is taking place. These include: 1) Writing to you to explain the breach they believe has taken place. Under the Fee For Intervention (FFI) scheme, the regulator can choose to charge you for the time taken to investigate and inform you of this and write the letter. The cost of FFI at the present time is £157 per hour. 2) Improvement or prohibition notices. These may be issued by the enforcing agent whilst on site or remotely. Improvement notices specify specific improvement(s) that must been implemented within a specified length of time. Prohibition notices prohibit specified activities from being carried out until such time as steps are taken to improve health and safety protection as detailed in the notice. If either type of notice is not complied with, further action can be brought in court. 3) Prosecution. Inspectors may choose to bring prosecutions in court under relevant statutory provision, including (but not limited to) the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and related regulations under this Act
Do I need to consider work organisation hazards for staff currently working at home?
Regulators have a number of options if they believe that a breach of health and safety law is taking place. These include: 1) Writing to you to explain the breach they believe has taken place. Under the Fee For Intervention (FFI) scheme, the regulator can choose to charge you for the time taken to investigate and inform you of this and write the letter. The cost of FFI at the present time is £157 per hour. 2) Improvement or prohibition notices. These may be issued by the enforcing agent whilst on site or remotely. Improvement notices specify specific improvement(s) that must been implemented within a specified length of time. Prohibition notices prohibit specified activities from being carried out until such time as steps are taken to improve health and safety protection as detailed in the notice. If either type of notice is not complied with, further action can be brought in court. 3) Prosecution. Inspectors may choose to bring prosecutions in court under relevant statutory provision, including (but not limited to) the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and related regulations under this Act
What powers to HSE Inspectors have on site?
HSE Inspectors and Environmental Health Officers have a number of powers they may exercise when enforcing health and safety law. These include the power to: – Enter premises at any time and without notice; – Inspect and investigate; – Take measurements, samples and photographs; – Require an area or machine to be left undisturbed; – Seize, render harmless or destroy dangerous items; – Obtain information, including written documents; and – Take statements including under caution as defined in the Police and Criminal evidence Act 1984.
Get in touch to arrange a FREE 30 minute chat.
Not sure what you need or want more information? Send us your enquiry and we’ll give you a call.
All fields are mandatory.
95% Client satisfaction rate
97% Client retention rate
Why choose us?
Experts in Health & Safety
We have the expertise to help you simplify complex health and safety legislation, find workable solutions to health and safety challenges, and protect your organisation from the rising cost of non-compliance.
- Approved by a Primary Authority
- Dedicated specialists with recognised qualifications
- Genuine hands-on experience of managing risk
- Cost certainty with our unlimited, fixed-fee model
- The confidence to act as one of your competent persons
Who you’ll be working with
Toyah Marshall
Principal Employment Law Adviser
Client stories
“
Gus Hosein
Executive Director, Privacy International
“
WorkNest supports our 280 staff members with Employment Law and Health & Safety and has provided quality management training too.”
Lisa Best
Head of Service Delivery, Catalyst Choice
“
We get a great deal of comfort and satisfaction knowing that we have support as and when we need it, in a decisive and responsive way.”
Richard Berry
Group HR Director, Culina Group
“
We moved our legal support to WorkNest (formerly Law at Work) having previously used a time and line law firm. It was important, though, that an all-inclusive fee structure did not come at the expense of quality. Thankfully we’ve been delighted with the service we’ve received from WorkNest.”
Chief Executive
Waverley Care
“
What we recognised in WorkNest is the background that they have. They are able to supply knowledge and experience in a number of disciplines, which enables us to develop our business in a way that’s safe, to do it on time and with a quality to it.”
Debbie Rainbow
Director of Human Resources and Health & Safety,
Bluestone National Park Resort
“
Celia McKeon
Chief Executive, The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT)
“
As the company started to get larger, we knew we had to protect our employees and our contractors both onsite and in the offices. WorkNest is exactly what we needed to move the company forward.”
Joanne Beaver
Operations Director, Beaverfit
“
Pineapple have worked with the team at WorkNest (formerly Law at Work) since 2003, and we have built a trusted partnership together. We particularly like WorkNest’s concise and practical advice concerning employment law/HR issues and also appreciate their totally supportive approach in all areas of health and safety.”
General Manager
Pineapple Dance Studios
“
I’ve taken WorkNest into every organisation that I’ve worked with. I’ve introduced them to many teams and many colleagues and referred them with absolute pleasure because I genuinely trust in the service that we get.”
People Director, The Works