Can ChatGPT AI produce a coherent health & safety policy in 15 minutes flat?

In today's fast-paced business world, it's more important than ever for companies to have clear and effective health and safety policies in place. These policies help to ensure the safety of employees and customers, as well as protect the company from legal liabilities. But creating a comprehensive health and safety policy can be a time-consuming and complex process, involving the identification of hazards, the evaluation of risks, and the implementation of control measures.

But do these policies need to be written by a human...?

What if you could have a coherent health and safety policy created for your business in just 15 minutes flat?

In this article, we'll put ChatGPT AI, a powerful language model trained by OpenAI , to the test and see if it's possible to generate a complete and effective health and safety policy for a hypothetical restaurant in London in a quarter of an hour. We'll see how the policy measures up against industry standards and find out if ChatGPT AI really can produce a coherent health and safety policy in record time.

If you haven’t heard of ChatGPT AI, I’d suggest getting to know it ASAP. This truly is a game-changing technology, if you can harness it effectively. Think of it like this: if you had two humans in a race and one leveraged technology to ride a bike, there’s only one winner, right? Well, this AI would be like the second human upping the stakes from a bike to a space rocket.

I’ll be sharing the exact inputs I gave to the algorithm, and its exact outputs too.

Get involved:

• Read this and tell us what you think: is this coherent? Is it fit for purpose? Could you do better (and how long would it take you)?
• Join our Safety Roundtable on this topic on 25th January at 12:30: “AI and ChatGPT for the safety professional – friend or foe?”

Let's get started writing our health & safety policy...

Q: What are the key elements of a health & safety policy for a UK business in the restaurant space?

A health and safety policy for a UK restaurant business should include the following key elements:

1.     A statement of the company's commitment to health and safety, including the allocation of resources for this purpose.

2.     A description of the company's organization and responsibilities for health and safety, including the appointment of a responsible person to oversee health and safety matters.

3.     A risk assessment process to identify and evaluate the risks associated with the business's activities, and the measures in place to control those risks.

4.     Details of the company's arrangements for first aid, including the provision of first aid equipment and the designation of first aiders.

5.     Information on the company's arrangements for fire safety, including the provision of fire safety equipment and the design of evacuation procedures.

6.     A description of the company's arrangements for managing hazardous substances, including the use and storage of chemicals.

7.     Details of the company's policies and procedures for manual handling, including the use of lifting equipment and the provision of training for staff.

8.     A description of the company's policies and procedures for working with electricity and other sources of energy, including the use of electrical safety equipment.

9.     A description of the company's policies and procedures for working at height, including the use of fall protection equipment.

10.  A description of the company's policies and procedures for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by employees.

11.  A process for the reporting and investigation of accidents and incidents, including the provision of training for staff on how to report incidents.

12.  A process for the regular review and update of the health and safety policy to ensure its ongoing effectiveness.

Q: Thank you. Let's say we are creating a policy for a restaurant called Harris' in London. It serves Italian food and has 100 covers. Can you create a statement of the company's commitment to health and safety, including the allocation of resources for this purpose?

Sure! Here is a sample statement of the company's commitment to health and safety for Harris' restaurant in London:

"At Harris' restaurant, the health and safety of our employees and customers is our top priority. We are committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment for our employees and to ensuring that our customers have a pleasant and safe dining experience.

To achieve this, we have allocated the necessary resources to implement and maintain effective health and safety policies and procedures. We will ensure that our employees receive the necessary training and support to carry out their work safely and that all necessary safety equipment and supplies are available to them.

We will also regularly assess and evaluate the risks associated with our business operations and take the appropriate measures to control those risks. We will comply with all relevant health and safety laws and regulations, and we will work to continuously improve our health and safety performance.

We are committed to working together with our employees and stakeholders to create a safe and healthy work environment for everyone at Harris' restaurant."

Q: Can you write A description of the company's organization and responsibilities for health and safety, including the appointment of a responsible person to oversee health and safety matters. Our CEO is Christian Harris and we have a H&S Consultancy called Restaurant Safety 4 U.

Certainly! Here is a sample description of the company's organization and responsibilities for health and safety at Harris' restaurant:

"At Harris' restaurant, the CEO, Christian Harris, is ultimately responsible for ensuring the health and safety of our employees and customers. However, the day-to-day management of health and safety is the responsibility of the management team, who have received training on health and safety matters and are responsible for implementing and enforcing our health and safety policies and procedures.

To ensure that we have expert guidance on health and safety matters, we have engaged the services of Restaurant Safety 4 U, a H&S consultancy. The consultancy will provide us with advice and assistance on health and safety issues and will help us to ensure that we are compliant with all relevant laws and regulations.

In addition to the management team, we have also designated a responsible person to oversee health and safety matters at the restaurant. This person will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of our health and safety policies and procedures and for ensuring that any necessary risk assessments are carried out. They will also be responsible for coordinating the investigation of any accidents or incidents that occur at the restaurant.

Overall, we are committed to ensuring that health and safety is given the highest priority at Harris' restaurant and that all employees are aware of their responsibilities in this regard."

Q: Please set out our risk assessment process to identify and evaluate the risks associated with the business's activities, and the measures in place to control those risks.

Certainly! Here is a sample risk assessment process for Harris' restaurant:

1.     Identify the hazards: The first step in the risk assessment process is to identify the hazards present in the workplace. This can be done through a walk-through of the restaurant and an evaluation of the tasks being performed by employees.

2.     Evaluate the risks: Once the hazards have been identified, the next step is to evaluate the risks posed by those hazards. This involves considering the likelihood of an accident or injury occurring as a result of the hazard and the severity of the potential consequences.

3.     Control the risks: Once the risks have been identified and evaluated, the next step is to put measures in place to control those risks. This may involve implementing procedures to eliminate the hazard, such as replacing hazardous equipment with safer alternatives, or implementing control measures to reduce the likelihood of an accident or injury occurring, such as providing training or personal protective equipment.

4.     Review and update: The risk assessment process should be reviewed and updated regularly to ensure that it remains effective and that any new hazards or changes to existing hazards are identified and addressed.

Overall, the goal of the risk assessment process at Harris' restaurant is to identify and evaluate the risks associated with our business activities and to implement the necessary measures to control those risks, in order to ensure the health and safety of our employees and customers.

Q: One of the main risks we have identified is manual handling. Can you set out how we will approach managing this risk, using the 4-point structure you have identified above?

Certainly! Here is a sample approach to managing the risk of manual handling at Harris' restaurant:

1.     Identify the hazards: The first step in managing the risk of manual handling is to identify the tasks that involve manual handling and the associated hazards. This may include tasks such as lifting and carrying heavy boxes or trays, or moving equipment or furniture.

2.     Evaluate the risks: Once the hazards have been identified, the next step is to evaluate the risks posed by those hazards. This involves considering the likelihood of an accident or injury occurring as a result of the hazard and the severity of the potential consequences.

3.     Control the risks: There are several measures that can be taken to control the risks associated with manual handling at Harris' restaurant, including:

a.     Providing training on proper lifting techniques to all employees who are required to perform manual handling tasks

b.     Implementing procedures to ensure that heavy loads are lifted using appropriate lifting equipment, such as trolleys or forklifts

c.     Providing employees with personal protective equipment, such as back supports or gloves, to reduce the risk of injury

d.     Implementing procedures to ensure that manual handling tasks are only performed by employees who are physically able to do so

4.     Review and update: The risk assessment process should be reviewed and updated regularly to ensure that it remains effective and that any new hazards or changes to existing hazards are identified and addressed.

Overall, by following this four-step process, Harris' restaurant can effectively manage the risk of manual handling and ensure the health and safety of our employees.

Q: Please clarify Details of the company's arrangements for first aid, including the provision of first aid equipment and the designation of first aiders. We have at least 3x first aiders on shift at any one time.

Certainly! Here is a sample description of Harris' restaurant's arrangements for first aid:

"At Harris' restaurant, we have made arrangements to ensure that first aid is available to our employees and customers in the event of an injury or illness. We have designated at least three employees as first aiders at all times and have provided them with training in first aid techniques.

We have also provided a first aid kit, which is stocked with the necessary supplies and equipment to treat a variety of minor injuries and illnesses. The first aid kit is located in a central location that is easily accessible to all employees and customers.

In the event of a more serious injury or illness, we will call emergency services and follow their instructions until they arrive on the scene. We have also posted the emergency telephone number in a visible location for easy reference.

Overall, our arrangements for first aid are designed to ensure that our employees and customers have access to prompt and appropriate medical treatment in the event of an injury or illness at Harris' restaurant."

That's our 15 mins time up...

Conclusion:

I’ll leave it for you to tell me in the comments – or on the upcoming Safety Roundtable – how good you thought the output of this exercise was in terms of quality. But what cannot be denied is the volume of crisp, well-written and (I’d say) broadly sensible output in hardly any time. It didn’t complete the full policy in 15 minutes, but it had the structure in place to do so (if only I was a quicker typist and thinker…!).

Your thoughts on this would be very much welcomed. Let’s discuss this as a safety profession and ensure that this AI becomes a friend, not a foe.

1. Share this so other safety professionals can learn, benefit and give feedback
2. Give your thoughts in the comments ☟
3. Join the Safety Roundtable on 25th January at 12:30: “AI and ChatGPT for the safety professional – friend or foe?”

#safety #insurance #riskmanagement