Professional & Financial Services

Set up and run a safe legal or accounting practice

Legal and accountancy practices are office businesses with deep duties of confidentiality. Beyond your professional regulator, you carry the same employer obligations as any office: health and safety (including display-screen equipment and stress), fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality, and data protection — where client files and special-category data make the ICO duties especially live.

UK-wide
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UK-wide

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Whatever branch of the profession you practise in, the office side of the firm carries the same duties as any employer. Physical risk is low, but display-screen equipment, workstation ergonomics, stress and long hours, lone working and travel to courts, tribunals and client sites all need managing — and the data you hold about clients makes data protection a first-order duty rather than a back-office one.

Health and safety law here is largely reserved: the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulates in Great Britain and the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) in Northern Ireland. Work through the sections below in order.

A. Meet your general health and safety duty

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is the foundation. You must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of your employees and of anyone else affected by your work. For a professional practice that means risk-assessing display-screen equipment use, workstation set-up, stress and mental health, lone and out-of-hours working, and visits to courts, clients and insolvent businesses' premises.

B. Manage fire safety

The responsible person — usually the employer or occupier — must carry out a fire risk assessment and maintain fire-safety arrangements for the office. The duty is devolved: the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in England and Wales; the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 in Scotland; and the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 in Northern Ireland.

C. Hold employers' liability insurance

As soon as you employ anyone, you must hold employers' liability compulsory insurance — normally at least £5 million of cover — and display or make available the certificate. This applies across Great Britain, with an equivalent duty in Northern Ireland. It is separate from the professional indemnity insurance your regulator requires.

D. Meet your equality duties

You must not discriminate against, harass or victimise people because of a protected characteristic — as an employer, and in providing your professional services to clients. In Great Britain this is governed by the Equality Act 2010; in Northern Ireland separate equality legislation applies, enforced by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. Reasonable adjustments for disabled clients extend to how you communicate and meet.

E. Handle personal data lawfully

Legal and accountancy files are dense with personal data — often special-category data (such as health information) and criminal-offence data, which carry extra UK GDPR conditions. You must comply with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and in most cases pay the data protection fee to the Information Commissioner's Office (£52, £78 or £3,763 a year depending on size, unless exempt). Confidentiality obligations and legal professional privilege sit alongside, not instead of, these duties. This applies UK-wide.

  1. 1

    1. Write your health and safety risk assessments

    Assess display-screen equipment use, workstation ergonomics, stress and mental health, lone working and off-site visits under HASAWA 1974.

  2. 2

    2. Carry out your fire risk assessment

    Assess fire risk for your office premises under the fire-safety regime for your nation.

  3. 3

    3. Take out employers' liability insurance

    Arrange at least £5 million of cover before anyone starts work — separate from your professional indemnity insurance.

  4. 4

    4. Register with the ICO and map your data

    Pay the data protection fee unless exempt, and record where client personal data sits, who can access it and how long you keep it.

What to do next

This spine covers the duties every practice in the sector shares. Your professional gateway — SRA authorisation, Bar Standards Board or IPReg registration, audit registration or insolvency authorisation — sits on top, along with anti-money-laundering supervision. Use "Which legal and accounting rules apply to your business" to find your route.

Official sources

Authoritative workplace and data-protection guidance.