Businesses throughout the UK are breaking the law and risk being fined, it is claimed, after new legislation introduced earlier this year now requires all workplaces to display a new and updated Health and Safety Law poster.
However many workplaces are unaware of the changes, which were introduced on 5th April 2014, and are still displaying the old poster which was first introduced and became a legal requirement in all workplaces in 1999. The workplace equipment supplier Slingsby began supplying the new posters in 2009 and has been inundated with orders for the posters since the start of the year but believes there are thousands of workplaces that still need to make the change.
Lee Wright, Marketing Director at Slingsby, which offers more than 35,000 products across all industries, says: “Workplaces have had a five year transition period to update these posters but despite this, you don’t have to look far to find an old style, text heavy, health and safety poster which still adorn the walls of lots of workplaces. The new poster is designed to be much easier to read and sets out in simple terms, using numbered lists of basic points and pictures, what employers and their employees should know about health and safety and what to do in the event of an accident. Each poster also comes with a hologram and serial number to certify that it’s a legitimate product because even health and safety posters can fall victim to criminals who illegally copy and sell them.”
Under the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations (HSIER), employers are required to display the approved poster in a prominent position in all workplaces. In addition, employers should provide staff who work remotely or off-site with a copy of the HSE’s health and safety law leaflet or pocket card, which can be downloaded from the HSE website.
