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The Government’s determination to reduce the regulatory "burden" on small and low-risk businesses has paved the way for the launch of two online resources of essential but straightforward health and safety advice.

The Health and Safety Toolbox is the latest in a package of online guidance developed by the HSE, with the support of businesses. Building on Health and Safety Made Simple, which provides basic information for low-risk businesses, the new Toolbox is said to accumulate everything an SME could need to manage health and safety effectively.

The Government hopes that the resource will not only help such businesses avoid wasting time reading health and safety information irrelevant to their activities but also stop them from spending money on unnecessary bureaucracy, or resorting to seeking advice from external consultants.

Employment minister Mark Hoban said: “Small and low-risk businesses should be focusing their time on growing and becoming a success, not having to waste precious time and money on unnecessary bureaucracy. This Toolbox will make it quick and simple for businesses to discover everything they need to know about health and safety.”

HSE chair Judith Hackitt said the package would help businesses focus on real and relevant risks. She added: “By going online and working through it for themselves, for free, we hope low-risk SMEs will realise that they don’t need expensive consultancy, or reams of paperwork to manage their responsibilities. It is of no benefit to businesses, or workers if over-the-top precautions are introduced.”

According to the Executive, quick, simple guides and interactive tools on how to identify, assess and control common workplace hazards have been pulled together for the first time. Core health and safety issues relating to the type of business, its workforce and workplace are also said to be set out more simply than before. 

Sections on the most common risks – such as manual handling, trip hazards and harmful substances – as well as tips on protective equipment are also set out in plain English.

The launch of the Toolbox comes hot on the heels of the revamped Safe Start Up website from IOSH. With the aim of demystifying regulation for anyone setting up a small business, the tool guides visitors through the areas of health and safety they need to consider in order to comply with the law.

So far, five occupations more generally associated with small businesses are featured on the website – hairdressing, floristry, complementary therapist, landscape gardener and building contractor – but more will be added.

The new Safe Start Up also forms part of ‘Better Business for All’ – a wider business information initiative by the Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership. IOSH has written the health and safety section of the project, with guidance on the law and what it requires.

IOSH research and information services manager Jane White commented: “Health and safety can sometimes get unfairly tarnished with the opinion that it’s a burden. But small businesses with fewer staff find lost time due to work-related injury and ill health very costly, as productivity dramatically reduces. So it makes sense to get health and safety right to help their business thrive.”

To access the HSE’s new Toolbox, visit www.hse.gov.uk and follow the prompts on the right of the homepage. The Safe Start Up website is available at www.iosh.co.uk/safestartup