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Safety plans for small businesses

Develop a safety and health policy for your small business

If you have more than five employees, you are required by law to establish an occupational safety and health policy. Your policy should be a living document and change whenever job functions and business activities change.

Your safety and health policy should:

  1. state your commitment to occupational safety and health
  2. give reasons for this commitment
  3. include your commitment to cooperate with workers to create a healthy and safe workplace
  4. outline the safety and health responsibilities of workers at all levels in your workplace

Tips for putting your safety policy into action:

  • Have the owner, president or CEO sign the policy.
  • Write the policy in clear language that your workers can understand.
  • Review the policy at least once a year in cooperation with workers.
  • Make sure every worker sees it and understands it.

Sample policy

View our sample policy below and develop your own. 
 
ABC Company
ABC Company is committed to providing all workers with a safe and healthy work environment. Supervisors and management are committed to doing everything possible to prevent injuries and maintain a healthy work environment.

To this end:

  • The company is committed to maintaining a workplace safety and health program/system to ensure the goals of this policy. 
    Every person in the company must integrate good workplace safety and health practices into their daily activities.
  • All employees are required to support the workplace safety and health system.
  • Managers are responsible for enhancing safety and health consciousness.
  • Supervisors must ensure their employees are trained in safety and health work procedures to obtain optimal output without incidents and injuries.
  • All employees are accountable for implementing this program. 

 
Signature: ___________________________  
Date: _______________________________ 
CEO Signature: _______________________ 
Date: _______________________________ 

Establish a health and safety representative

In Manitoba, workplaces with between five and nineteen workers must establish a safety and health representative. This representative is chosen by workers and must not be a manager or supervisor. The safety and health representative is the link through which you and your workers can work together on matters pertaining to safety and health in the workplace.

As an employer, when you get a recommendation in writing from the safety and health representative, you must respond within thirty days under The Workplace Safety and Health Act. In your response, you may either accept the recommendation or give reasons for disagreeing with the recommendation. 
 
If it is not reasonably possible for you to give an adequate response within thirty days, you must explain the delay. In your explanation, you must identify when a response will be provided. You then must respond as soon as it is available. 
 
If you employ twenty or more workers, you must develop at workplace safety and health committee.

Related links

Small business safety
Health and safety topic list