Guide
Provide health and safety information to employees
Your legal duty under MHSWR 1999 Regulation 10 to provide comprehensible and relevant health and safety information to employees, including risk assessment findings, emergency procedures, and the H&S Law poster requirement.
Your duty to inform employees
Regulation 10 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires every employer to provide employees with comprehensible and relevant information about workplace health and safety. This is not simply about displaying a poster - you must actively communicate specific information about the risks in your workplace and the measures you have taken to control them.
This duty applies from your first employee and covers all workers, including part-time, temporary, and agency staff working in your premises.
What information you must provide
Regulation 10(1) specifies five categories of information you must give employees:
1. Risk assessment findings
Employees must know about the risks to their health and safety that you have identified through your risk assessment. This means telling them:
- What hazards exist in their work area and role
- How serious those risks are
- What they need to do to protect themselves
2. Preventive and protective measures
Employees must understand what controls you have put in place. This includes:
- Safe systems of work and standard operating procedures
- What personal protective equipment is required and why
- Maintenance and inspection arrangements
- Health surveillance programmes where applicable
3. Emergency procedures
Information about your procedures under Regulation 8 for serious and imminent danger, including evacuation routes, assembly points, and what to do in different types of emergency.
4. Nominated persons
The identity and role of persons nominated under Regulation 8(1)(b) to coordinate evacuation and emergency response - fire wardens, first aiders, and emergency coordinators.
5. Shared workplace risks
If you share premises with other employers, any risks notified to you by those other employers under Regulation 11(1)(c) that could affect your employees.
Making information comprehensible
The word "comprehensible" in Regulation 10 is a legal requirement, not just good practice. Information must be presented in a way your workforce can actually understand. Consider:
- Language: If you employ workers whose first language is not English, provide key safety information in their language or use interpreters
- Literacy: Use diagrams, pictograms, photographs, and demonstrations alongside written information
- Visual impairment: Provide information in accessible formats including large print or audio where needed
- Learning difficulties: Simplify language, use visual aids, and check understanding through conversation
- New starters: Induction should cover all essential safety information before work begins
Simply handing someone a document does not fulfil the duty. You must take reasonable steps to ensure the information is understood.
The H&S Law poster requirement
Under the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989, you must either:
- Display the approved HSE health and safety law poster where your employees can easily read it, or
- Provide each employee with a copy of the approved leaflet
The current version of the poster has been in force since April 2014. Older versions are no longer acceptable. You must fill in the poster with details of your health and safety contacts.
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Compile your safety information pack
Gather your risk assessment findings, control measures, emergency procedures, and nominated person details into a clear format suitable for your workforce.
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Assess your workforce communication needs
Consider language, literacy, and accessibility needs. Identify whether translated materials, pictograms, or alternative formats are required.
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Deliver information to all employees
Provide information through induction for new starters and briefings for existing staff. Do not rely solely on written documents - use face-to-face communication.
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Display or distribute the H&S Law poster
Display the current HSE-approved poster in a prominent location or provide each employee with the equivalent leaflet. Fill in the contact details section.
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Update information when risks change
When your risk assessment is reviewed, when new hazards are introduced, or when emergency procedures change, update the information provided to employees.
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Keep records of what was communicated
Document what information was provided, when, and to whom. This demonstrates compliance if questioned by an HSE inspector.