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.

UK-wide
Guide summary

You must tell all employees about workplace risks and safety measures in a way they understand. This includes sharing risk assessment results, emergency plans, and who to contact in an emergency. Display the health and safety law poster or give each worker a pocket card. For child workers, inform their parents before they start.

  • Tell employees about risks found in your risk assessment
  • Explain safety measures you have put in place
  • Share emergency procedures and evacuation routes
  • Name who is in charge during emergencies
  • Pass on risks reported by other employers sharing your workplace
  • Use simple language, pictures or translations if needed
  • Display the HSE health and safety law poster or give workers a leaflet
  • Tell parents of child workers about risks before work starts
  • Information must be easy to understand for all workers
  • Update information when risks or procedures change
On this page
UK-wide

Related guides in Compliance & Legal

Keep children safe on farms

Legal requirements and practical guidance for protecting children on farms. Covers age restrictions for farm work and machinery, …

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.

  1. 1

    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.

  2. 2

    Assess your workforce communication needs

    Consider language, literacy, and accessibility needs. Identify whether translated materials, pictograms, or alternative formats are required.

  3. 3

    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.

  4. 4

    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.

  5. 5

    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.

  6. 6

    Keep records of what was communicated

    Document what information was provided, when, and to whom. This demonstrates compliance if questioned by an HSE inspector.

Official guidance and resources