The main law governing health and safety at work in the United Kingdom is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSW Act). This places general duties on you to do what is reasonably practicable. This means balancing the level of risk against the measures needed to control the real risk in terms of money, time or trouble. However, you do not need to take action if it would be grossly disproportionate to the level of risk.

Other regulations supporting the HSW Act set out more detailed legal duties for specific activities. There are many Acts and Regulations associated with the Environment which require as a minimum statutory compliance. Every organisation that employs five or more staff must have a written Health and Safety Policy.

The statement of general policy on health and safety at work sets out your commitment to managing health and safety effectively, and what you want to achieve. In Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) the health and safety commitments are combined with the environmental and employee wellbeing commitments into one Safety, Health and Environment Policy. This policy is reviewed at least every three years reiterating and reinforcing the principles of our Health and Safety Management System and Environmental Management System.

The scope of this policy includes all roles and sites of LFRS. This means that operational activities, training activities and routine activities are included within the scope.

The implementation of this policy will follow the ISO 45001:2018 standard and the Health and Safety Executive Publication HSG65 – Successful Health and Safety Management model of ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’ approach.

The content of this section will form the basis of the Safety, Health and Environment Policy that will be signed by the Chair of the Fire Authority and Chief Fire Officer and displayed on a poster in all LFRS premises, externally on the services internet and detailed in Service Oder H&S 00 - Section 1 and Env00 – Section 1 as part of the health and safety and environmental management systems.

Lancashire Combined Fire Authority (LCFA) is the board responsible for providing an effective and efficient Fire and Rescue Service for Lancashire through the delivery of a range of services including:

• Emergency response

• Prevention and protection activities

• Specialist support and administration

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) sites are spread throughout the county of Lancashire, including the unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool. LFRS has 39 fire stations, plus a Headquarters site in Preston and a Training Centre in Chorley which also includes an Urban Search and Rescue facility.

The Chair of the Fire Authority (CFA) and Chief Fire Officer (CFO) has overall responsibility for compliance with the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Policy and the Health and Safety and Environmental Management Systems and recognise the impact that a positive health, safety and wellbeing culture can have on the organisation.

We are committed to the continuous improvement of safety, health and environmental performance and management for the services we deliver and activities we undertake. We will aspire to the highest standards of health, safety and wellbeing for our staff and prevent pollution and minimise our impacts on the environment. To achieve this we will provide adequate financial and physical resources, competent staff and expert advice when required.

We will deliver our services and activities in a manner that provides a safe place of work for staff, contractors and visitors and protects the environment.

Our aims and objectives are to:

• Understand and ensure as a minimum compliance with safety, health and environmental regulatory and other requirements that apply to our activities and services.

• Be fully committed to the prevention of injury and ill health to staff and visitors and provide and maintain high facility, workplace and housekeeping standards.

• Continually develop and maintain systems and procedures to ensure that all equipment, plant and premises are safe and do not have an adverse effect on health and wellbeing and the environment.

• Consult and communicate with staff and representative bodies promoting safety, health, wellbeing and environmental expectations and standards.

• Identify hazards, aspects and impacts and reduce risks to as low as is reasonably practicable whilst being risk aware rather than risk adverse.

• Raise awareness, train staff in safety, health, wellbeing and environmental matters and encourage our staff to play an active role in reducing impacts and risks and contributing to policy and procedural implementation.

• Support staff fitness and wellbeing through the provision of equipment and resources.

• Plan and set objectives, targets and programmes and monitor and review our systems using proactive and reactive methods to continually improve our safety, health, wellbeing and environmental performance reporting progress each year.

• Have appropriate plans/arrangements to deal with emergency situations.

• Manage waste according to our duty of care, minimising waste going to landfill, by re-use and recycling wherever possible.

• Purchase goods and services that minimises the consumption of natural resources, where possible.

• Implement energy saving technologies and initiatives.

• Hold contractors and third parties accountable for adhering to the Service’s health, safety and environmental policy and audit contractor systems and procedures to ensure satisfactory health, safety and environmental performance.

• Actively monitor, audit and review to improve systems, processes, health, safety and environmental performance.

This policy forms an integral part of our Community Risk Management Planning and Corporate Planning processes and Business Continuity Arrangements. The policy will be displayed on all LFRS premises, available and communicated to workers within the organisation and available to interested parties, as appropriate. The policy will be reviewed periodically not exceeding three years to ensure it remains relevant and appropriate.

LCFA is responsible for agreeing the Safety, Health and Environment Policy and for ensuring adequate resources are available for health and safety purposes. The Authority will provide a clear direction for the Executive Board and Senior Management Team to establish policies and manage health and safety performance effectively.

All staff is expected to adhere to the above policy. Contracted staff and visitors are made aware of the policy and their obligation to work safely whilst under our control.

Roles and responsibilities for groups and specific job roles are contained in the organisational arrangements detailed in the Health and Safety and Environment Service Orders which form the basis of the Health and Safety Management System and Environmental Management System.

It is essential that employees are competent to undertake their health, safety and environmental responsibilities. Training and development requirements are evaluated and appropriate briefing, training and development provided through the Service’s training strategy, organisational development arrangements, performance management process and audit process. All staff receives initial Safety, Health and Environment training and three yearly refresher training as a minimum supported by role specific training as required.

Significant - From a legal, economic and moral standpoint, a number of health and safety and environmental obligations are imposed on the Authority, whilst the Health and Safety Executive and Environment Agency will readily take enforcement action where significant or recurring failures are identified.

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