Compliance guide
Health and Safety Policy Template (WHS / OHS)
A health and safety policy is a short statement of how your business protects the health and safety of workers, contractors and visitors. Whether your portal or client calls it a health and safety, WHS or OHS policy, it's the same document, and this guide gives you a free template, sample wording, and a path to a portal-ready version.
Last updated
Key takeaways
- A health and safety policy states your commitment to safety, who is responsible, and how you manage risk, usually in one to two pages.
- WHS (work health and safety), OHS (occupational health and safety) and health and safety policy all mean the same document; the term used depends on your country and era.
- It's a near-universal requirement for supplier prequalification and tenders, platforms like CM3 and Avetta were built around it.
- The international standard for managing it is ISO 45001; many policies reference it.
- The policy is the high-level commitment; the day-to-day detail lives in your policies and procedures.
- Write your own from the template below, or have a tailored, portal-ready document done for you.
What is a health and safety policy?
A health and safety policy is a formal document in which a business states its commitment to providing a safe and healthy workplace, and sets out how it will achieve that. It names who is responsible for safety, how the business manages risk, and how it meets its legal duties.
Most small and medium businesses need a clear, genuine policy of one to two pages, often as the exact document a head contractor or client asks for before letting you on site or onto a panel.
WHS vs OHS vs health and safety policy: what's the difference?
In practice, none. They're different names for the same document:
- Health and safety policy / health & safety policy, the most widely used term internationally (including the UK).
- WHS policy (work health and safety), the current term in Australia under the model Work Health and Safety Act.
- OHS policy (occupational health and safety), the older term, still used in Victoria (Australia) and many other countries.
- Workplace health and safety policy, simply a longer way of saying the same thing.
If a portal asks for one term and your policy uses another, that's fine, the content is what matters. A well-written policy works under any of these labels.
Who needs a health and safety policy?
Any business with workers should have one, but two situations make it urgent:
- Prequalification and portals, safety prequalification systems (CM3, Avetta and similar) and most tenders require a documented policy before you can be approved as a supplier or contractor.
- Legal duty of care, businesses have a duty to ensure health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable. A written policy is the foundation of demonstrating you take that duty seriously.
Even a sole trader or small business benefits from a short, genuine policy, and it's often the precise document a client asks for before awarding work.
What to include: health and safety policy template structure
A strong policy is short but covers each of these elements. Use this as your template outline:
- Policy statement / commitment, a clear statement that health and safety is a core priority and that you aim to prevent injury and illness.
- Scope, who the policy applies to: workers, contractors, labour hire, volunteers and visitors.
- Responsibilities, what management is accountable for, and what workers are expected to do.
- Consultation, how you consult workers on health and safety matters that affect them.
- Risk and hazard management, your commitment to identify hazards and control risks so far as is reasonably practicable.
- Training and competency, how you ensure workers are inducted, trained and competent for their tasks.
- Incident reporting, your commitment to report, record and investigate incidents and near misses.
- Compliance, a commitment to comply with health and safety legislation and relevant codes or standards (e.g. ISO 45001).
- Review and continuous improvement, how often the policy is reviewed and your commitment to improve.
- Approval, signed and dated by a director or senior manager, with their name and position.
Sample policy statement
Download the editable health and safety policy template
Add your email and we'll send the full health and safety policy template in Word and PDF, with a sample statement you can sign as-is or adapt.
Tailoring it to your industry
The structure above suits any business, but reviewers like to see a policy that reflects your actual risks. Adjust the emphasis to your work:
- Construction, reference site safety, SWMS for high-risk work, plant and equipment, and subcontractor management.
- Office / professional services, focus on ergonomics, manual handling, electrical safety and emergency procedures.
- Cleaning / facilities, cover hazardous substances, manual handling, lone working and PPE.
- Company-wide or employee-facing, make responsibilities and reporting channels clear for every worker.
- Small business, keep it short and genuine; a one-page policy that reflects what you do beats a generic ten-page copy.
How to write a health and safety policy, step by step
Turn the template structure above into a finished, signed policy.
- 1
State your commitment
Open with a clear statement that health and safety is a priority and that you aim to prevent injury and illness across your operations.
- 2
Define the scope
Say who the policy covers, employees, contractors, labour hire, volunteers and visitors, and across which sites or activities.
- 3
Assign responsibilities
Set out what management is accountable for and what you expect of workers (following procedures, reporting hazards, using PPE).
- 4
Describe how you manage risk
Commit to identifying hazards and controlling risks so far as is reasonably practicable, and to consulting workers on safety.
- 5
Cover training and incidents
State how workers are inducted and trained, and how incidents and near misses are reported, recorded and investigated.
- 6
Approve, sign and review
Have a director or senior manager sign and date it, then set a review cycle (at least annually) and provide it to portals as needed.
Free template vs done-for-you document
Got time to tailor it to your site risks? The free template is all you need. Facing a prequalification deadline? The done-for-you version arrives written and formatted to upload.
| Free template | Done-for-you document | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £0 | Fixed fee |
| Effort from you | A few hours editing | A short intake form |
| Reflects your actual risks | You write it in | Done for you |
| Signed and dated | You handle it | Supplied signed-ready |
| Portal-ready PDF | Format it yourself | Yes, upload-ready |
| If a portal rejects it | You fix it | We revise it free |
Prefer your health and safety policy done for you?
Tell us what your business does and we'll prepare a tailored, signed-ready health and safety policy written to clear prequalification on portals like CM3, Avetta and Felix.
Requests for the health and safety policy are reviewed and prepared manually, we'll follow up by email.