A well written policy is an aid to running an efficient business. It ascribes responsibilities, and lists the duties of each level of management, not forgetting the legal duties of every employee. It will set down arrangements for the monitoring of the policy effectiveness, and for its regular review.

The policy may well outline the activities of the company and in doing so, may describe the main hazards associated with those activities. This will naturally lead on to risk assessments that dictate the control measures required. It is not practical to include detailed risk assessments for every operation in the policy, but generic risk assessments for principal activities should be included with a stated requirement for detailed on-site assessments to be written when judged to be necessary.

A safety policy is not necessarily a safety manual. The document should be concise and easy to read. It is a requirement under law that the policy should be brought to the attention of all employees. This really means that each employee should read it. But, the longer a document, the less likely it is to be read. So, clear and concise is the rule. Thus, for larger organisations, a separate safety manual is common, to which the policy will refer.

As a signed statement of intent, the health and safety policy acquires a quasi legal status. A company?s actual performance or failure can be compared with the standards intended to be achieved, and the comparison perhaps cited in a civil claim for damages. The policy may also be used by a potential client or business partner to assess a company standards and commitment. For these reasons it is most important that a company's safety policy is properly written for that company: a bought off the shelf document brings with it risks of its own.