Whilst it is not a legal requirement for a small practice to have a formally presented safety policy the Partners have always placed great emphasis on safe working both in the office and on site and as such have formulated and actioned the following policy statement:

 

"The policy of Hutchinson Whitlam Associates is to ensure in so far as it is reasonably practical the health and safety at work of all its employees, its sub-consultants and those others who are in some way affected by or are involved in the practice's activities.

 

The practice Safety Policy and all other safety documentation and advice are based on the practice's view that health and safety have equal status to any other business objective.

 

The practice is committed to a continual updating and improvement of health and safety standards and to the elimination of accidents and incidents.

 

Health and safety is the responsibility of the partners and it is an integral part of their duties.

 

The partners and practice personnel have a contractual and legal, as well as an individual obligation to protect themselves and others from accident or injury, and to guard against any harm to the environment.

 

An absolute condition of employment is that all staff complies with the practice health and safety policy.

 

In the event of an accident at any work location, it is a practice requirement that the details are properly reported and investigated, and prompt action taken to avoid recurrence.

 

The practice requires all sub-consultants working on its behalf to operate health and safety standards fully consistent with its own and expects sub-consultants to achieve comparable levels of performance as a condition of their contract."