Introduction to Fire Safety Management

2.1
The importance of setting policy
2.1.1 Satisfying the law
As has been explained in the previous notes a key fea-
ture of any safety management system will be the prep-
aration and implementation of a policy if an organisation 
is to effectively manage its safety obligations.
The law establishes a minimum standard for the 
requirements of any health and safety policy. Section 
2(3) of the HSWA requires that every employer prepare 
and revise a written statement of his general policy for 
the management of health and safety. The requirement 
extends to ensuring that employees are provided with 
information in relation not only to the policy statement 
but also the organisation and arrangements for managing 
and carrying out the policy.
The requirements for recording the policy inevitably 
revolve around the size of an organisation. Such a policy 
should therefore be recorded when fi ve or more employ-
ees (or an aggregate of that number) are employed.
In addition to the HSWA, the RRFSO and MHSW 
Regulations also place a duty upon the responsible 
person and/or employer to ‘make and give effect to 
such arrangements as appropriate to the nature of his 
activities and the size of his undertaking, for the effective 
planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of 
the preventive and protective measures’.
The Approved Code of Practice to the MHSW 
Regulations go on to state that employers should set 
up an effective health and safety management system 
to implement their health and safety policy which, 
as discussed in Chapter 1, is as good (quasi legal) as 
requiring a policy in law.
2
Safety policy
This chapter discusses the following key 
elements:
➤
The importance of setting policy in safety
➤
The key features and appropriate content of 
an organisation’s safety policy
➤
Specifi c fi 
re safety-related arrangements 
within a policy.

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