Health and Safety Policy

Our commitment

Ready Staff is committed to protecting the health, safety and welfare of the workers we supply, our own staff, and anyone affected by our activities.

As a labour provider we do not control our clients' workplaces. What we do control is who we send, what they have been told before they arrive, what we ask of the client beforehand, and what we do when something goes wrong. This policy sets out each of those.

Who is responsible for what

Health and safety responsibility in agency work is shared, not transferred. The following sets out how we divide it.

Ready Staff management

Obtain risk information from the client before supply; assess whether we can supply safely; brief workers on hazards, controls and PPE; verify required training and licences; maintain records; investigate incidents; suspend supply where a site is unsafe; review this policy.

Ready Staff employees

Follow this policy; obtain the safety information required before confirming a booking; refuse to place a worker where mandatory safety requirements are incomplete; escalate concerns promptly; record what was briefed and when.

The host employer or client

Provide a safe workplace and safe systems of work; supply risk assessment information before workers arrive; give a site induction; provide supervision appropriate to the worker's experience; provide site-specific equipment and any PPE agreed as theirs to supply; report accidents and incidents to us promptly.

The temporary or agency worker

Follow site rules and the instructions of site supervision; use the protective equipment provided; stop and ask where a task appears unsafe or has not been explained; report accidents, incidents and near misses to both the site and Ready Staff; not undertake tasks they are not trained or authorised for.

Before a worker is supplied

We ask clients for the safety information relevant to the role before workers are confirmed. Where safety-critical information is missing, the requirement is not treated as complete and the booking does not proceed to confirmation.

• The workplace address and the specific area the worker will be working in
• The role, the actual duties, and the physical demands involved
• Shift pattern, working hours, break arrangements and any night working
• Manual handling requirements, including typical and maximum weights
• Machinery, vehicles or equipment the worker will use or work near
• Licences, certifications or competences required, and whether we must verify them
• PPE required, and explicitly which party provides each item
• Known workplace risks and the control measures in place
• The induction the client will provide, and when
• Supervisor name and contact details for the shift
• Fire, evacuation and emergency arrangements, and the emergency contact
• Whether the role involves lone working, work at height, confined spaces, driving, food handling or hazardous substances
• The client's accident and incident reporting process
• Confirmation that a current risk assessment exists for the role

Risk assessment

The host employer is responsible for assessing the risks of the work and the workplace, as they control both. We are responsible for obtaining that information, understanding it, and satisfying ourselves that we can supply into it safely.

Where a client cannot provide risk information for a role, that is itself a finding. We will raise it, and we may decline to supply until it is resolved.

Induction and role-specific safety information

Every worker should receive a site induction from the host employer before starting work, covering the workplace, its hazards, the control measures, welfare facilities and emergency arrangements.

Separately, we brief workers before they attend on what the role involves, what PPE is required and who provides it, where to report, who to report to, and what to do if something is unsafe. Acknowledgement of that briefing is recorded.

Personal protective equipment

PPE is the last line of defence, not the first. Where it is required, the arrangement for providing it must be settled before the worker attends — not discovered at the gate.

• The required items are identified at booking and recorded against the assignment
• Responsibility for providing each item is agreed explicitly with the client
• Workers are told before they attend what they must bring and what will be issued
• Items issued to a worker are recorded, with the worker's acknowledgement
• A worker who arrives without required PPE that they were told to bring should not begin work until it is resolved

Specific risk areas

The following recur across the sectors we supply and receive specific attention at booking and briefing.

Manual handling

Typical and maximum loads, frequency, posture, available mechanical aids, and whether training is required before starting.

Machinery and equipment

What the worker will operate or work near, guarding, isolation procedures, authorisation, and required certification such as a powered truck licence.

Working at height

Access equipment, fall protection, whether the task requires specific training, and who authorises the work.

Lone working

Check-in arrangements, means of raising an alarm, expected duration, and escalation if contact is lost.

Driving for work

Licence category and endorsements, vehicle type, insurance position, driver hours, loading and securing arrangements.

Fatigue and shift work

Shift length, rotation, rest breaks, consecutive shift limits and night-working arrangements.

Hazardous substances

COSHH information, substances involved, exposure controls, and required PPE and training.

Food hygiene

Food handling requirements, hygiene rules, allergen awareness and required certification.

Workplace violence and aggression

Roles with public or lone contact, de-escalation expectations, and reporting routes.

Display screen equipment

Where relevant to office and administrative assignments, workstation set-up and break arrangements.

Accidents, incidents and near misses

All accidents, injuries, near misses and unsafe conditions involving a worker we have supplied must be reported to Ready Staff as well as to the host employer, as soon as reasonably practicable.

Near misses matter as much as injuries. A near miss is an injury that happened not to occur, and it is the cheapest possible warning.

• Report immediately to site supervision, and to Ready Staff
• We record the worker, employer, assignment, location, date, time and description
• Injury details, immediate action taken, witnesses and whether emergency services attended are recorded
• An investigation owner is assigned and corrective actions are tracked to closure
• Where reporting to an enforcing authority may be required, that assessment is made promptly by Ready Staff management
• Assignment supply may be suspended pending investigation

Raising a safety concern

Any worker may raise a health and safety concern without fear of unfair treatment, and without their assignment being ended as a result. This applies whether the concern is about the site, the task, the equipment or an instruction they have been given.

Concerns can be raised with your Ready Staff contact, through our confidential reporting form, or by email to compliance@readystaff.co.uk.

If you believe a task is unsafe, you are entitled to stop and ask. We will support you in doing so.

Escalation and suspension of unsafe assignments

Where we identify that an assignment or site presents an unacceptable risk, we will raise it with the client and seek resolution. Where it is not resolved, or where the risk is serious, we will withdraw workers and suspend supply.

That decision sits with Ready Staff management and is not subject to commercial override.

Training and competence

We verify the licences, cards and certificates a role requires before a worker is put forward, and we record their categories and expiry dates. Expiry is monitored, and a worker whose required certification has lapsed is not deployed on roles requiring it.

Our own staff receive health and safety training appropriate to their role, including what safety information must be obtained before a booking is confirmed.

Monitoring, records and review

We maintain records of safety information obtained from clients, briefings issued and acknowledged, PPE issued, certifications verified, incidents reported and corrective actions taken.

This policy is reviewed at least annually, and sooner following a serious incident, a significant change in the sectors we supply, or a material change in the applicable law. Review considers incident and near-miss trends by sector, employer and assignment.