United Kingdom

Workplace safety

Reviewed 2026-07-26

Use at your own risk. Educational and research use only, not medical advice. Verify numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards in practice, review them with a medical professional or a fire safety specialist. Disclaimer

Do this first

Stop the work, make the area safe, and report it. An unsafe job never becomes safe by finishing it.

In the United Kingdom the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 puts the duty on the employer: assess the risk, act on it, and prove it. A worker who leaves the workplace facing serious and imminent danger is protected against any detriment for doing so.

Step by step

Read the risk assessment for your job. If you cannot find it, ask for it. With five or more employees it has to be written down.
Know who the trained first aiders and fire wardens are, and where the first aid kit and the defibrillator are kept.
Use the protective equipment provided, and report it when it is damaged, missing or the wrong size. It must not cost you anything.
Report near misses in writing. A near miss is a free lesson that a serious accident would otherwise teach.
If the danger is serious and imminent, stop the work, warn colleagues, move to safety and inform your supervisor.
After any accident, secure the scene, give first aid, and record it in the accident book. Deaths, specified injuries and dangerous occurrences go to the HSE under RIDDOR.
Attend the safety training the employer must provide during working hours and at no cost to you.

Never do this

Do not bypass a guard, an interlock or an alarm because it slows the job down.
Do not work at height, in a confined space, or on live electrical equipment without the required training and permit.
Do not sign a training record for training you never received.

Call emergency services if

Any accident with injury, unconsciousness, burns or heavy bleeding.
A chemical release, a fire, a collapse, or a fall from height.
Anyone trapped in machinery or in a confined space.

Common questions

Can I refuse dangerous work?

Yes. Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, sections 44 and 100, leaving or refusing to return to a workplace because of serious and imminent danger you reasonably believed in must not lead to detriment or dismissal. Raise it with the employer, and with the HSE if it is not fixed.

Who has to provide first aid at work?

The employer, in proportion to the size and hazards of the workplace, under the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981: trained first aiders or an appointed person, a stocked kit, and a way to call the emergency services.