Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

3.5.1 Directors’ 
responsibilities
The Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission 
said at the launch of the guidance on Directors’ 
responsibilities:
Health and safety is a boardroom issue. 
Good health and safety refl ects strong lead-
ership from the top and that is what we want 

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Organizing for health and safety
33
to see. The company whose chairperson 
or chief executive is the champion of health 
and safety sends the kind of message which 
delivers good performance on the ground.
Those who are at the top have a key role 
to play, which is why boards are being asked 
to nominate one of their members to be a 
‘health and safety’ director. But appointing 
a health and safety director or department 
does not absolve the Board from its collect-
ive responsibility to lead and oversee health 
and safety management.
Directors’ Responsibility for Health & Safety INDG 
343, sets out the following action points for directors:
➤
the Board needs to accept formally and publicly its 
collective role in providing health and safety leader-
ship in its organization
➤
each member of the Board needs to accept their 
individual role in providing health and safety leader-
ship for their organization
➤
the Board needs to ensure that all board decisions 
refl ect its health and safety intentions, as articulated 
in the health and safety policy statement. It is import-
ant for boards to remember that, although health 
and safety functions can (and should) be delegated, 
legal responsibility for health and safety rests with 
the employer
➤
the Board needs to recognize its role in engaging the 
active participation of workers in improving health 
and safety
➤
the Board needs to ensure that it is kept informed 
of, and alert to, relevant health and safety risk man-
agement issues. The Health and Safety Commission 
recommends that boards appoint one of their 
number to be the ‘Health and Safety Director’.
Directors need to ensure that the Board’s health and 
safety responsibilities are properly discharged. The 
Board will need to:
➤
carry out an annual review of health and safety 
performance
➤
keep the health and safety policy statement up to 
date with current board priorities and review the 
policy at least every year
➤
ensure that there are effective management systems 
for monitoring and reporting on the organization’s 
health and safety performance
➤
ensure that any signifi cant health and safety failures 
and their investigation are communicated to board 
members
➤
ensure that when decisions are made the health and 
safety implications are fully considered
➤
ensure that regular audits are carried out to check 
that effective health and safety risk management 
systems are in place.
By appointing a ‘Health and Safety Director’ there will be 
a board member who can ensure that these health and 
safety risk management issues are properly addressed, 
both by the Board and more widely throughout the 
organization.
The Chairman and/or Chief Executive have a critical 
role to play in ensuring risks are properly managed and 
that the Health and Safety Director has the necessary 
competence, resources and support of other board 
members to carry out their functions. Indeed, some 
boards may prefer to see all the health and safety 
functions assigned to their Chairman and/or Chief 
Executive. As long as there is clarity about the health 
and safety responsibilities and functions, and the Board 
properly addresses the issues, this is acceptable.
The health and safety responsibilities of all board 
members should be clearly articulated in the organi-
zation’s statement of health and safety policy and 
arrangements. It is important that the role of the Health 
and Safety Director should not detract either from the 
responsibilities of other directors for specifi c areas of 
health and safety risk management or from the health 
and safety responsibilities of the Board as a whole.