Health & Safety Policy

1. Policy Statement
This is the health and safety policy statement of Inclusive Bytes CIC.

Inclusive Bytes is working towards a comprehensive health and safety policy and is bound to abide by the Health and Safety at Work Act. This lays down certain duties on all staff and volunteers. The duties are to take care of their own safety and that of other staff, volunteers and visitors, and to co-operate with the Board of Directors to enable them to carry out their responsibilities.

In particular, staff and volunteers have a duty to:

work safely, efficiently and without endangering the health and safety of themselves, their colleagues or any other person on the premises at any time
adhere to safety procedures laid down by Inclusive Bytes, and conform to all instructions given by those with a responsibility for Health and Safety
record all accidents, near-miss occurrences and hazardous situations in the health and safety / accident book and report them to the Board of Directors
meet their other statutory safety obligations, including that laid down in Section 8 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, which states that ‘no person shall intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything provided in the interests of health, safety or welfare in pursuance of any of the relevant statutory provisions’.
2. Organisation and Responsibilities
2.1 Board of Directors
Overall and final health and safety responsibility within the organisation lies with the Board of Directors.

2.2 Designated Health and Safety Person
The Designated Health and Safety Person at Inclusive Bytes is Andy Powell, who is one of our Directors. You can contact him by email on [email protected] or by phone on 07904 765331 (see also section 6, Contact Details).

2.3 Responsibility
The Designated Health and Safety Person is responsible for ensuring that the health and safety policy is carried out within the organisation. Delegated responsibility shall be given to the other Directors.

In particular, the Directors are responsible for:

carrying out regular safety inspections of the premises utilised by Inclusive Bytes
ensuring that the premises and equipment are safe and well maintained
investigating and reporting accidents as required
ensuring staff and volunteers are given a copy of this policy and understand its contents
ensuring that staff and volunteers are made familiar with the alarm systems, fire escapes and fire extinguishers in the building and action to be taken in the event of a fire
undertaking risk assessments for any work related activities either on or off the premises
ensuring that an up to date first aid kit is available at the premises and a health and safety workplace poster on health and safety law is displayed
drawing to the attention of staff and volunteers any new legislation on health and safety relevant to the work of Inclusive Bytes
getting help with any matters they are unable to deal with
2.4 Staff and Volunteers
All staff and volunteers have a responsibility to:

read and fully understand Inclusive Bytes’ policy statement and the procedures to be carried out in the event of an emergency; if there is any doubt about the meaning, staff must seek clarification from the designated person or another Director
co-operate with the Board of Directors as appropriate, to achieve a healthy and safe workplace and to take reasonable care of themselves and others
report to the Designated Health and Safety Person within 24 hours of any accident occurring:
on the premises
off the premises, while acting on behalf of Inclusive Bytes
bring to the notice of the Designated Health and Safety Person any potentially dangerous circumstances that staff or volunteers are unable to put right
2.5 Review
The Designated Health and Safety Person, in conjunction with the other Directors, will keep this policy under constant review to reflect any changes in legislation. The policy will be fully reviewed every three years and will be subject to approval by the Board of Directors.

3. Arrangements for Risk Management
3.1 Accidents, Near-Miss Occurrences and Hazardous Situations
A first aid kit is available at 17 Gravel Walks, Oldham.

Our designated first aiders are Andy Powell and Gordon Pearce, who have both completed Emergency First Aid at Work Training (28/02/2024).

Inclusive Bytes has a health and safety accident book located at 17 Gravel Walks, Oldham and all incidents, no matter how small, must be recorded as soon as possible after the incident. The incident should also be reported to the Designated Health and Safety Person.

In addition to reporting accidents, it is equally important to report near misses and potential hazards, so preventative action can be taken before it is too late. Once an incident has been recorded in the accident book, the sheet must be removed and stored separately, for example, in the personnel files.

It is the responsibility of the Designated Health and Safety Person to ensure that any necessary follow-up action is taken to reduce the risk of the accident or near accident reoccurring.

3.2 Risk Assessments
The Designated Health and Safety Person is responsible for doing risk assessments. The purpose of a risk assessment is to:

identify what could cause injury or illness (hazards)
decide how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously (risks)
take action to eliminate the hazards, or if this isn’t possible, control the risks
record the findings (see appendix)
Risk assessments also need to be completed for any off-site locations.

3.3 Reportable Incidents — RIDDOR
The Designated Health and Safety Person is responsible for reporting the following incidents to the Health & Safety Executive:

deaths arising from a work related accident
specified injuries to workers
work related accidents causing more than seven days’ incapacity for work
non-fatal accidents to non-workers that result in hospital treatment
certain occupational diseases
dangerous occurrences
3.4 Fire Safety
The Designated Health and Safety Person is responsible for doing a fire risk assessment and for ensuring that appropriate fire procedures and equipment are in place at the premises and at off-site locations. Full details are set out in the Inclusive Bytes Fire Safety Policy.

Any visitors to the premises must sign in and out on arrival and departure.

4. Personal Safety
4.1 Safety Guidelines
Staff who are going to be away from the premises on Inclusive Bytes business should tell other staff where they will be, how long for and how they can be contacted.
Work experience students and volunteers should not work unsupervised.
All incidents of aggression or violence and any threat to personal safety should be reported to the Designated Health and Safety Person and recorded in the accident book.
Staff and volunteers who are working on their own should not allow access to casual visitors who have no appointment.
Staff and volunteers should not put themselves at risk on account of Inclusive Bytes property.
Staff and volunteers should inform the Directors who they want to be contacted in the event of an emergency, giving contact details (see appendix).
4.2 Stress Management
Inclusive Bytes will do all it can to eradicate problems relating to stress at work.
The responsibility for reducing stress at work lies both with Inclusive Bytes and with the staff and volunteers.
Staff and volunteers need to be aware of the causes of stress and ensure that they do not work in a way which could cause them to suffer an increase in stress, nor cause an increase in stress to others.
If a staff member or volunteer is suffering from stress at work, they should discuss this with the Designated Health and Safety Person or another Director at the first opportunity. Where practicable and reasonable, Inclusive Bytes will help their staff and volunteers to find a solution.
5. Useful Contacts
Health and Safety Executive
www.hse.gov.uk
Tel: 0300 003 1747

Oldham Council Health and Safety
www.oldham.gov.uk/info/200205/health_and_safety
Tel: 0161 770 2244

Rochdale Council Health and Safety
www.rochdale.gov.uk/business-advice-support/health-safety-businesses
Tel: 0300 303 8871

Tameside Council Health and Safety
www.tameside.gov.uk/healthsafety

6. Contact Details
The Designated Health and Safety Person for Inclusive Bytes is Andy Powell.