Develop and Implement the Health and Safety Policy
ProQual Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice
A Health and Safety Policy is one of the most important documents within an organisation's health and safety management system. This unit of the ProQual Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice focuses on developing the practical skills required to create, review, implement and maintain an effective Health and Safety Policy that reflects the organisation's activities, risks, legal obligations and business objectives.
Learners completing this unit will demonstrate competence in developing policy arrangements, consulting relevant stakeholders, ensuring legal compliance, communicating policy requirements and supporting the implementation and continual improvement of the organisation's health and safety management system.
Unlike traditional classroom-based qualifications, the ProQual Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice is a competency-based qualification assessed through workplace evidence. This means learners demonstrate their ability to apply health and safety knowledge in real workplace situations rather than sitting written examinations.
This unit is particularly relevant for:
Health and Safety Advisors
Health and Safety Officers
Health and Safety Managers
SHEQ Professionals
HSE Managers
Compliance Managers
Operations Managers with health and safety responsibilities
Individuals progressing towards Graduate Membership of IOSH (GradIOSH)
By successfully completing this unit, learners will demonstrate their ability to develop, implement, communicate and review a Health and Safety Policy that supports legal compliance, organisational objectives and continual improvement in health and safety performance.
What Does This Unit Mean?
This unit is about ensuring that the organisation has a Health and Safety Policy that accurately reflects its activities, risks, legal obligations and management arrangements, and that the policy is effectively implemented throughout the organisation.
A Health and Safety Policy is more than a document. It sets the organisation's direction, commitment and expectations for managing health and safety and provides the framework upon which health and safety arrangements, objectives and risk controls are built.
In simple terms, this unit is asking:
“Can you develop, implement, review, revise and continually improve a Health and Safety Policy that reflects the organisation's risks, legal requirements and operational needs, and ensure that it is understood, applied and maintained throughout the organisation?”
What Competence Does This Unit Require?
You are expected to demonstrate that you can:
Understand the organisation's structure, activities and management arrangements.
Determine the organisation's health and safety requirements.
Identify legal and workplace health and safety obligations.
Identify internal and external stakeholders affected by the organisation's activities.
Review existing health and safety policies, systems and procedures.
Identify deficiencies and improvement opportunities.
Consult relevant stakeholders during policy development and review.
Promote commitment to the policy throughout the organisation.
Develop implementation arrangements.
Communicate the policy effectively.
Obtain feedback and respond appropriately.
Apply quality management principles to policy documentation and related records.
Review and improve the policy over time.
The focus is not on writing a policy document alone.
The focus is on demonstrating that the organisation has a suitable Health and Safety Policy and a process for developing, implementing, communicating, maintaining, reviewing and continually improving it.
Evidence Requirements: Unit 02
How is your organisation structured for health and safety, and who is responsible for what?
Maps to AC 1.1
Evidence Examples:
An organisation chart or similar document showing who is responsible for health and safety at each level: directors, managers, supervisors, safety staff and employee representatives.
A short note or report from you explaining how this structure works for health and safety; for example, who reports to whom, and whether anything makes managing health and safety easier or harder.
How are the organisation's health and safety requirements identified?
Maps to AC 1.4
Evidence Examples:
A risk assessment, legal register, compliance review, audit report or management review showing how health and safety requirements were identified.
The evidence should cover the whole of the organisation's activities: the materials or services coming in, the work processes, the products or services going out, any waste produced, and the people affected, including employees, contractors and others.
Evidence showing the identified requirements were considered when establishing health and safety arrangements, objectives or controls.
Who outside your organisation could be affected by its activities, and how do you know?
Maps to AC 1.5
Evidence Examples:
A risk assessment, list or report naming the people outside the organisation who could be affected; for example neighbours, members of the public, visitors, delivery drivers, or other businesses sharing the premises.
Evidence showing what is in place to protect them.
How is the suitability of the existing Health and Safety Policy evaluated?
Maps to ACs 1.3 and 2.1
Evidence Examples:
A Health and Safety Policy review, audit report, management review record or gap analysis identifying strengths, weaknesses or opportunities for improvement.
Evidence showing actions identified as a result of the review.
How are stakeholders involved in the development and review of the Health and Safety Policy?
Maps to AC 2.3
Evidence Examples:
Meeting minutes, consultation records, emails or feedback records showing consultation with managers, employee representatives, employees or other relevant persons regarding the policy.
Evidence showing that comments, suggestions or feedback were considered during the review process.
How is the Health and Safety Policy developed or revised?
Maps to AC 2.4
Evidence Examples:
A revised Health and Safety Policy showing updates, amendments or improvements.
Evidence showing why the changes were made, such as legal updates, audit findings, risk assessments, organisational changes or stakeholder feedback.
How is it ensured that the Health and Safety Policy supports effective risk management and legal compliance?
Supports ACs 1.4 and 2.4 (supplementary)
Evidence Examples:
A Health and Safety Policy that clearly defines responsibilities, arrangements and commitments for managing health and safety.
Supporting evidence showing links between the policy and risk assessments, legal requirements, objectives or improvement plans.
How are resource requirements and implementation constraints considered?
Maps to AC 2.2
Evidence Examples:
A business case, budget proposal, resource request, project plan or management meeting minutes showing discussion of resources, staffing, competence, timescales or implementation challenges.
Evidence showing decisions made regarding resources or implementation arrangements.
How is the Health and Safety Policy communicated and promoted?
Maps to ACs 1.2, 2.5 and 2.6
Evidence Examples:
A communication or engagement plan showing how commitment to the policy will be promoted: who it is aimed at, how the message will be delivered, and when.
Evidence showing the policy was communicated, such as induction records, toolbox talks, briefing records, emails, training records or notice board communications.
Evidence showing employees, managers or contractors had access to the policy.
How is the Health and Safety Policy implemented?
Maps to AC 3.1
Evidence Examples:
An implementation plan, action plan, project plan or management meeting minutes showing how the policy was introduced.
The plan should show what support people get during the rollout (such as training or briefings), what will happen if problems come up, how feedback is collected and acted on, and how disruption to normal work is kept to a minimum.
Evidence showing implementation activities took place, such as training records, communication records, completed actions or progress reports.
How are Health and Safety Policy records and documents controlled?
Maps to AC 3.2
Evidence Examples:
A controlled Health and Safety Policy showing version number, approval details, issue date and review date.
A document control procedure, document register or document control record showing how policy documents are managed.
How is the Health and Safety Policy reviewed and improved?
Supports ACs 2.1 and 2.4 (supplementary; this evidence may also count towards other units)
Evidence Examples:
A policy review record, management review, audit report or compliance review identifying opportunities for improvement.
Evidence showing the policy was updated, revised or improved as a result of the review.
How is it ensured that the Health and Safety Policy management process is effective?
Recommended practice; not assessed in this unit. The evidence may support review and audit criteria in other units.
Evidence Examples:
An internal audit report, management review record or policy effectiveness review evaluating how well the policy is understood and implemented.
Evidence showing actions taken to improve the effectiveness of the policy management process.
Some of your evidence against one Assessment Criterion may also be used to meet the requirements in other assessment criteria (Where applicable).
Important Note for Learners
The competence requirements outlined above describe the practical workplace activities, systems, processes and records that may be used to demonstrate competence against this unit.
As this is a competency-based qualification, learners are expected to demonstrate that they can apply their health and safety knowledge and skills within their own workplace or working environment.
In addition to the competence-based assessment criteria, this unit also contains a number of knowledge-based assessment criteria. These are typically assessed through:
Written responses
Professional discussions with the assessor
Assessor questioning
In most cases, the knowledge-based assessment criteria relate directly to the same workplace activities, systems and processes described above. Learners will therefore often find that the workplace evidence gathered to demonstrate competence also helps them prepare for and satisfy the knowledge assessment requirements.