A Christian Resource for Microenterprise Development
Development Resources
The health and safety of you, your family, any people you employ and of your customers
must be given the highest priority.
Failure to take health and safety seriously can
lead to catastrophic problems, including legal action and closure of your business!
Health – generally applied to working conditions.
This is a massive subject but basically
it means you must take action to ensure that you, your family or any employees do
not come to any physical harm or experience any serious accidents in conducting your
business. For some activities protective clothing, gloves, ear plugs and safety glasses
may be necessary. Equipment may need special guarding to prevent injury. You should
look carefully over your premises and make a list of all possible risks, then make
changes to reduce the risks, or at the very least make sure anyone working for you
understands where the risks are. Waste materials, spillages or breakages must be
cleared away regularly and not allowed to accumulate
Safety – generally applied to
your goods or services.
Whatever you sell or supply must be safe to use at all times.
This includes the care you take to ensure there is no contamination or foreign material
present and there are no spoilage or pathogenic micro-organisms entering or surviving
in your products and clear directions to your customers, usually in writing on the
packaging, how your products can be used safely.
If you provide a service for example,
child care – you must obviously ensure your premises are secure, that there are no
physical hazards which could hurt children, parents or staff and that there are proper
procedures for child protection.
A large proportion of microenterprises will be based
on agricultural products, which if offered to customers as food or drink have the
potential to cause illness or even death through the presence of various microorganisms
which can cause food poisoning. A basic guide to food poisoning risks is available
to download as a PDF from Practical Action. If you are planning to sell any type
of food or drink, especially if made in a home based business it is vitally important
you understand these risks and how to control them. It is better to avoid production
of high risk products at least until full training in food hygiene and process control
can be received.
Health and safety guidance will be included in each microenterprise
profile, but it must be emphasized that it will be your responsibility to ensure
the health and safety of your business practice.
HEALTH & SAFETY