Importance of health, safety & environment to your business

Compliance with health, safety and environmental rules

You have a legal responsibility for the health and safety of everyone affected by your business. Your duties include:

• carrying out a thorough health and safety risk assessment - see our guide on risk assessment - an overview
• drawing up a health and safety policy - this must be in writing if you have five employees or more, see our guide on how to operate a health, safety and environment policy 
• ensuring your workplace meets minimum standards of comfort and cleanliness, see our guide on how to meet minimum workplace standards
• recording serious injuries, diseases or dangerous accidents in an accident book - and in some cases reporting them to the relevant authority

Download the introductory guide to health and safety from the HSE website (PDF).

You must also comply with regulations designed to reduce the harm your business may cause to the environment. These cover areas including:

• disposal or recovery of hazardous or toxic waste
• emissions into the air - see our guide on how to protect employees and the environment from dust and fumes
• proper storage and disposal or recovery of business waste
• discharges of wastewater
• packaging

For more information, see our guide on how to manage waste, pollution and effluent.

Details of environmental regulations for specific industries are available on the NetRegs website. Find out what environmental regulations cover your business activities on the NetRegs website. You can also read about improving your environmental performance on the Environment Agency website.

Failing to follow health, safety and environment rules can have severe consequences. You can be fined or even face a prison sentence. In some circumstances, your business could be closed down to stop you acting illegally.

Get information on health and safety issues for businesses in Northern Ireland at the HSENI website or call the HSENI on Tel 0800 0320 121.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Compliance with health, safety and environmental rules
• Avoid the costs of illness, accidents and incidents at work
• Improve your reputation through health, safety and environmental practices
• Introduce environmental cost-reductions
• Health, safety and environmental practices and your insurance costs
• Plan ahead to get health, safety and the environment right

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