The full management manual that sits beneath your policy — the system of procedures that runs your day-to-day health & safety and wins you tenders. Written bespoke by CMIOSH consultants. Since 1984.
A health and safety manual is the full set of procedures that puts your health and safety policy into practice. If the policy says what you will do and who is responsible, the manual is the how: the documented system covering risk assessment, COSHH, fire safety, PPE, manual handling, work at height, contractor control, training records, accident reporting and emergency procedures.
It is not the same as the policy. The written policy is the short, statutory document required under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The manual is the larger, working management system that sits beneath it — the day-to-day reference your managers and staff use to actually run health and safety.
A complete, credible manual is also what gets you through tender pre-qualification questionnaires and accreditation schemes such as CHAS and SafeContractor. KeyOstas writes the manual bespoke to your operations — by CMIOSH consultants — so it is genuinely usable, defensible at inspection, and strong enough to put in front of a client.
There is no single law that says “you must have a manual” by that name — but the underlying arrangements it documents (risk assessments, COSHH controls, fire procedures and more) are legally required. A consolidated manual is the recognised best-practice way to evidence them, and is routinely demanded by clients, insurers and accreditation schemes.
A complete, bespoke health & safety management manual — the working system beneath your policy, written by a CMIOSH consultant.
Documented procedures for risk assessment, accident reporting, training, first aid and emergency response.
COSHH, fire safety, PPE, manual handling, work at height, DSE — the topics that apply to your operations.
How you manage contractors, visitors and shared workplaces — the areas tenders scrutinise most.
The practical forms, checklists and records your managers need to run the system day to day.
Written to satisfy CHAS, SafeContractor and PQQ requirements so the manual earns its keep commercially.
A maintainable structure with version control, plus an option to keep it current under a retained package.
Four reasons UK employers have KeyOstas write their health & safety manual.
Five CMIOSH-grade consultants — Chartered Members of IOSH, the highest grade IOSH awards. Most one-person UK consultancies hold no Chartered grade at all.
Our lead consultant is listed on the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register — the cross-body register endorsed by HSE, IOSH and IEMA. Verify us directly on OSHCR.
No junior account managers, no offshored advice lines. The Chartered consultant who scopes your engagement on the free call is the consultant who delivers it.
Findings closed, not just listed. Documents your team will actually use. The benchmark is whether this made your business safer.
From first call to delivery, the Chartered consultant you meet is the consultant who does the work — no handoffs, no junior advisors.
Talk to a Chartered consultant. We map your current state, your regulatory exposure and your priorities. No obligation, no pitch.
Written scope, deliverables, the named consultant who will lead, and a fixed fee or retainer rate — in your inbox within one working day.
Site work, documentation and ongoing competent-person support if you need it. The consultant who scoped the work is the consultant who delivers it.
A bespoke health & safety manual is fixed-scope project work; ongoing upkeep can sit inside a retained advisory package.
A complete bespoke health & safety management manual — core procedures, hazard-topic sections, forms and templates — written around your operations. Written proposal within 24 hours.
Ongoing manual upkeep — version control and updates as your business and the law change — inside a retained package from £495 a year.
The questions UK buyers ask us most about this service. Tap any to expand.
The policy is the short, statutory document required under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 — it states your intent, responsibilities and arrangements. The manual is the larger working system beneath it: the full set of documented procedures your managers and staff use to actually run health and safety day to day.
Core procedures (risk assessment, accident reporting, training, first aid, emergencies), hazard-topic sections (COSHH, fire, PPE, manual handling, work at height, DSE as relevant), contractor and visitor control, and the practical forms and checklists that make the system usable.
There is no law mandating a “manual” by name. But the arrangements it documents — risk assessments, COSHH controls, fire procedures and so on — are legally required, and a consolidated manual is the best-practice way to evidence them. It is also routinely demanded by clients and accreditation schemes.
Yes. Tender pre-qualification questionnaires and accreditation schemes such as CHAS and SafeContractor expect to see documented H&S procedures. KeyOstas writes the manual specifically to satisfy those requirements, so it works as a commercial asset, not just a compliance document.
It depends on the size and complexity of your operations and how much usable documentation you already have. We confirm the timescale and a fixed fee in the written proposal within 24 hours of the free scoping call — a focused manual for a smaller business is typically a matter of weeks.
Whenever something material changes — new activities, new sites, new equipment, organisational change or new legislation — and as a routine annual review. KeyOstas can keep your manual current under a retained advisory package.
Services and courses UK employers most often combine with this one.
Free 20-minute scoping call. Written proposal and fixed fee within 24 hours. CMIOSH consultants, UK-wide.
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