Leadership checklist

This checklist will help you ask the right questions in assessing whether you are leading on health and safety effectively. It will help you:

Links to relevant content are provided to help you answer those questions.

You can find more guidance on the ‘plan, do, check, act’ process in our introduction to leading health and safety.

There is separate guidance on how to check your arrangements when it comes to leadership for the major hazard industries.

Core actions for leading health and safety

Ask yourself the following questions.

What have you done to ensure your organisation, at all levels including the board, receives competent health and safety advice?
How are you ensuring all staff – including the board – have sufficient information, training and supervision in their health and safety responsibilities?
How confident are you that you consult and involve your workers, particularly safety representatives, are consulted properly on health and safety matters, and that their concerns are reaching the appropriate level including, as necessary, the board?
What systems are in place to ensure your organisation can manage risks and risk assessment at work and that sensible control measures are established and maintained?

How well do you know what is happening on the ground, and what audits or assessments are undertaken to inform you about what your organisation and contractors actually do?
What information does the board receive regularly about health and safety, for example performance data and reports on injuries and work-related ill health?
Do you compare your performance with others in your sector or beyond?
Where changes in working arrangements have significant implications for health and safety, how are these brought to the attention of the board?
More guidance on how to monitor and report your performance