If you have employees you must provide information about health and safety law.
Your Legal Duty to Display the Poster
Employers have a legal duty to display the poster Health and Safety Law - What You Need to Know in a prominent position in each workplace, or provide each worker with a copy of a Health and Safety Law pocket card.
Both outline responsibilities of employers and workers and where workers can receive advice.
New 2009 Version of the Poster
A new version of the health and safety law poster, and a pocket card replacing the previous leaflet, were launched in April 2009.
The new versions are modern, eye-catching and easy to read. They set out in simple terms, using numbered lists of basic points, what employers and workers must do, and tell you what to do if there is a problem.
Unlike the previous poster, you do not have to add contact details of your enforcing authority and HSE's Employment Medical Advisory Service on the new simplified posters.
Misleading Commercial Promotions
There is evidence of misleading promotions wrongly claiming that the old poster must be replaced immediately and that the new poster should be displayed on every notice board. Businesses should not be duped into buying unnecessary and overpriced or copy versions of the posters.
The genuine HSE law poster has a unique, serially numbered hologram on each poster and are available at the same price as the old versions.
Order Posters and Pocket Cards Online
You can order the new posters and pocket cards online directly from HSE Books, or telephone 01787 881165.
The standard version of the poster will be sufficiently durable to meet the needs of offices and the vast majority of workplace environments. There is also a semi-rigid PVC version which will be more appropriate where there are extremes of temperature or other harsh workplace environments.
The pocket card is also available as a Talking Leaflet in MP3 audio format to download on the HSE website.
Can You Still Use the Existing Posters?
Employers can, if they wish, continue to use their existing versions of the poster and leaflet until 5 April 2014, as long as they are readable and the addresses of the enforcing authority and the Employment Medical Advisory Service up to date.
This information can be obtained from HSE's Infoline on 0845 345 0055.
