Legal & General is committed to ensuring that the health and safety risks to their policyholders, employees and contractors which arise from its operations are reduced as far as is reasonably practicable.
We require that our suppliers carry out their operations in a safe manner in line with relevant regulation, approved codes of practice and industry best practice in a manner that does not expose any person to the risk of injury or ill health.
Accordingly, its chosen contractors or suppliers are expected to demonstrate a clear commitment to Health and Safety Management and that they maintain effective policies and procedures.
We assess our key suppliers using a questionnaire-based process and, where appropriate health & safety management capability is not maintained, we are committed to working with the supply chain to encourage robust improvements. The questionnaire declaration must be signed and dated by a Director of the organisation who has responsibility for these matters.
Health and Safety policy statement
The supplier must have a current Health and Safety policy statement, as required by Section 2(3) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The policy should be signed and dated by a senior official of that organisation and a copy should be provided, including the date of last revision if not included on the policy.
We believe that a good policy statement will include a designation of responsibilities and processes, which indicate how the organisation deals with health and safety risks as they arise, together with their aims and objectives for continual improvement of health and safety within their organisation. This is a strategic document, which will give a high-level overview of the health and safety impacts relevant to that organisation by way of reference to the controls it has in place or initiatives it is running.
Example inclusions within the policy are the management and safety of plant, equipment and substances; risk assessment and safe working practices; information, supervision and competency for tasks and training; handling of accidents and emergency procedures; audit and review of the management systems and procedures.
Health and Safety Training
We believe that employee involvement is critical to the success of an organisation and this principle applies as strongly to Health and Safety Management. We anticipate that the supplier will have provided training to its employees where the details may include training in use of work equipment; manual handling; risk assessments; fire safety and training relevant to the particular health and safety risks relevant to that organisation's operations.
Insurance cover
It is important that the supplier provides a current copy of their Employee and Public liability insurance certificates. It is important that the policy has not excluded tasks that are part of the agreed service provision including for example, working at height. The policy 'excess' must be disclosed and should be appropriate.
Risk Assessment
We require that the risk assessment will identify potential hazards, including those who may be harmed and how this might happen. In addition it will include a scoring system (likelihood and severity) and will specify the control measures in place to eliminate or reduce risks. Above all, risk assessments must be suitable and sufficient and communicated to those who need such information.
The risk assessment should only be completed by those who have received suitable and sufficient training and are competent to do so. The supplier should only provide details of generic assessments where site-specific assessments are not required.
Accidents and enforcement actions
The social impact of accidents can be incalculable and may indicate a weakness in health and safety controls and training. We therefore consider the incidence of accidents together with reactive monitoring very seriously and require full disclosure of statistics.
In the event of an accident or near miss within a policyholder's home, the supplier or its contractors as appropriate, must call the nominated Senior Manager with full details. In this instance, we will require the supplier to undertake a thorough investigation, report its recommendations and any follow-up action.
Contractors and sub-contractors
The supplier is expected to show that they have taken action to ensure the adequacy of their contractors’ Health and Safety policy, training and employment vetting. The supplier is also required to check that the contractor has adequate insurance cover in place and that adequate Risk Assessments are conducted, particularly when working in a policyholder’s home or within a Legal & General site.
Compliance with Legislation
We require that we must be advised immediately of any non-compliance with relevant Health & Safety legislation and provided with details of prosecutions.
