A health and safety officer is often the person a business appoints to coordinate workplace safety. In Great Britain, employers must appoint a competent person or people to help meet their health and safety duties (HSE). For many small businesses, this may be the owner or a suitably experienced employee, not necessarily a dedicated full-time role. HSE reports 40.1 million working days lost to work-related illness and injury, and 680,000 people injured at work, for 2024 to 2025 (HSE).
What is a health and safety officer?
A health and safety officer is a practical label many businesses use for whoever coordinates day-to-day health and safety, not a job title the law requires. What the law actually requires is more specific.
The legal requirement: appointing a competent person
In Great Britain, employers have legal duties to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees and others affected by their work. To help meet these, employers must appoint a competent person or people, someone able to recognise hazards and help put sensible controls in place (HSE).
Do you need a dedicated health and safety officer?
Not necessarily. Usually, managing health and safety isn’t complicated, and many small businesses can do it themselves with their workers’ help. A dedicated officer becomes more useful as a business gets larger, more complex, or higher risk.
Who can act as the competent person?
The competent person can be the business owner, one or more employees, or someone from outside the business. Formal qualifications aren’t usually essential, though relevant training can help (HSE).
Key responsibilities in the workplace
Identifying hazards and supporting risk assessments
A core part of the role is helping identify hazards and support risk assessments, then following up so any hazards or defects found are addressed, depending on the business’s activities. Depending on the business, this can cover areas such as machinery safety, fire safety, hazardous substances, manual handling, display screen equipment and occupational health, the relevant controls depend on the business’s activities, workplace and risks, not a single universal checklist.
Maintaining policies, procedures and training
The competent person typically helps maintain health and safety policies, supports staff training on safety issues, and acts as a point of contact for safety concerns.
Investigating incidents and improving controls
Where an accident or incident occurs, appropriate records should be kept and the circumstances looked into, with any safety improvements recommended, following the business’s own reporting processes.
Written health and safety policies and risk assessments
When a written policy is required
Every business needs a policy for managing health and safety. If you have five or more employees, the law requires you to write it down and share it, including any changes, with your employees (HSE). Fewer than five, and writing it down isn’t mandatory, though it’s still worth doing, and the policy should say clearly who does what, when and how.
When to seek specialist health and safety support
For a larger, more complex, or higher-risk business, or where nobody in-house has the right knowledge or experience, it can make sense to bring in an external health and safety consultant or adviser. As the employer, managing health and safety legally remains your responsibility either way (HSE).
Key takeaway for business owners
Managing workplace risks is an ongoing responsibility, not a one-off job title. Failing to manage risks or meet your legal duties can expose a business to enforcement action, civil claims, disruption and reputational harm, depending on the facts. An appointed competent person helps you organise that work effectively. See our Health and Safety advice for businesses.
Frequently asked questions
They help coordinate health and safety, for example identifying hazards, supporting risk assessments, maintaining policies and training, and following up on incidents, depending on the business.
No. The law requires employers to appoint a competent person or people, not necessarily a dedicated job title, this can be the owner, an employee, or an external adviser.
The business owner, one or more employees, or someone from outside the business. Formal qualifications aren’t usually required, though relevant experience and training help.
If you have five or more employees, the law requires your health and safety policy to be written down and shared with employees, including any changes.
When the business is larger, more complex, or higher risk than in-house competence can manage, though the legal responsibility stays with the employer.
