Business policies

Health and safety policy

Policy statement

LBM will plan and carry out its work to protect the health, safety and welfare of the proprietor, independent consultants, clients, visitors and others affected by its activities. We will identify foreseeable risks, take proportionate precautions and review arrangements when work, equipment or locations change. We will provide relevant information, coordinate with clients and consultants, and seek competent specialist advice where our own knowledge is insufficient.

Responsibilities and competent advice

Lynton Black is responsible for risk assessment, safe working arrangements, equipment checks, incident records and policy review. Each consultant must manage the safety of their own work, communicate relevant risks and follow agreed site and project arrangements. Before work involving unfamiliar or significant hazards starts, the proprietor will obtain advice from a suitably competent person and record their name, relevant experience or qualifications and advice. This policy does not claim that LBM has appointed an external health and safety adviser.

Working arrangements

• Assess risks: identify hazards, who may be affected, existing controls and further action before new work or a site visit. Record significant findings, the responsible person and review date. Do not start work where an unacceptable risk remains.
• Computer and desk work: check seating, screen position, lighting and working space; vary tasks and take appropriate breaks. Address discomfort promptly and review the workstation when equipment or circumstances change.
• Equipment and electrical safety: use suitable equipment, inspect leads and plugs, avoid overloaded sockets, keep ventilation clear and remove damaged equipment from use. Arrange competent inspection or testing according to risk and the setting.
• Premises and emergencies: keep routes and exits clear, identify fire precautions, evacuation routes and first-aid arrangements, and follow the requirements of the premises operator. Report defects promptly.
• Client sites, travel and lone working: obtain relevant site information and induction, agree a contact and check-in arrangement, plan travel realistically and avoid unsafe driving or working when fatigued. Follow client safeguarding and access requirements where applicable.
• Handling equipment: avoid unnecessary lifting; assess the load and route, use assistance or suitable aids, and do not attempt work beyond personal capability.
• Workload and wellbeing: plan achievable workloads, communicate pressures early and agree changes or cover where necessary. Consultants may raise concerns directly with the proprietor.
• Incidents: make the situation safe, obtain emergency assistance where needed, record accidents and near misses, investigate causes and implement corrective action. The proprietor will check whether statutory reporting is required and obtain advice where necessary.

Monitoring and review

The proprietor will review significant risks at project start and when circumstances change, and review this policy annually or after a significant incident. Records will include risk assessments, relevant advice, equipment issues, incidents and completed corrective actions. Relevant arrangements will be shared with consultants before they begin work.

Adopted by Lynton Black, Proprietor, on 28 October 2026. A signed policy copy is retained by LBM and is available on request.

Environmental policy

Commitment

LBM will reduce avoidable environmental impacts from its digital services, purchasing, travel and equipment use. We will meet applicable environmental requirements, prevent pollution within our control and pursue practical, measurable improvement. Decisions will consider accessibility, security, reliability and client needs alongside environmental performance.

Responsibilities and actions

The proprietor is responsible for setting objectives, collecting proportionate evidence and reviewing progress. Consultants and suppliers will be told about relevant requirements for their work.

• Travel and materials: use remote meetings and digital documents where suitable; combine necessary visits and consider practical lower-impact travel options.
• Efficient websites and software: set a suitable performance budget at project start; optimise images and fonts, avoid unnecessary scripts and data transfer, use caching where appropriate, and review slow or inefficient database queries.
• Hosting: select capacity appropriate to the service, review utilisation and retention, and remove unused resources after confirming contractual and recovery requirements. Request relevant energy and location information from hosting suppliers.
• Equipment and purchasing: maintain and repair equipment where practical, consider suitable refurbished products, and assess useful life before replacement. Use licensed waste channels for electrical equipment, securely erase data and retain disposal evidence where available.
• Waste and office use: avoid unnecessary printing, reuse materials and use available recycling facilities. Switch off equipment when safe and appropriate without compromising service or backups.
• Claims and evidence: distinguish measured results from estimates and supplier statements. Do not describe a service as carbon neutral or claim verified emissions reductions without supporting evidence.

Improvement programme

During the first three months following issue, the proprietor will establish a simple record of business travel, equipment purchases and disposal, and available hosting usage information. For each new website project, record an agreed page-weight or performance target and check representative pages before release. Review available hosting capacity and unused resources at least annually.

At the annual policy review, compare the available records, identify at least one practical improvement for the next year, assign an owner and target date, and record the outcome. Where a baseline is incomplete, record that limitation rather than inventing a reduction.

Quality management policy and process

Commitment and accountability

LBM will deliver services against clear, agreed requirements and maintain records that allow work to be reviewed, tested and supported. Lynton Black is accountable for scope, delivery decisions, consultant coordination, client communication and corrective action. This is a proportionate documented management process; it is not a claim of ISO 9001 or other third-party certification.

Delivery controls

1. Define the work: record objectives, scope, deliverables, responsibilities, assumptions, dependencies, milestones and acceptance criteria. Identify accessibility, language, privacy, security, hosting and support requirements before design or development decisions are fixed.
2. Plan capacity and review: agree roles with each consultant, check relevant competence and availability, allocate review responsibilities and identify cover for critical activities. Do not promise unconfirmed personnel or specialist services. Review project risks and dependencies at agreed checkpoints.
3. Control information and changes: keep an identifiable current specification, design and delivery plan. Use version control for development work and maintain a record of approved changes. Explain effects on cost, time, risk and acceptance before agreeing a scope change.
4. Review and test: use a test plan proportionate to the work. Check relevant user journeys, forms, data validation, permissions, responsive layouts, browser behaviour, accessibility, performance and security. Record defects, severity, ownership, fixes and retest results. Arrange independent specialist assurance when required by the contract.
5. Approve release: confirm acceptance criteria, outstanding issues, client approval, deployment steps, backups and rollback arrangements. Keep credentials and confidential information out of public repositories and documents. Do not treat an untested change as an approved release.
6. Handover and support: supply agreed documentation and training, identify ownership and licence arrangements, and record support contacts, service hours and escalation routes. Agree patching, backup, restoration and incident arrangements appropriate to the service.
7. Resolve problems: log complaints, incidents and material defects; acknowledge them within the applicable service agreement; assess impact and assign an owner. Record corrective action, verification and client communication, and review recurring causes.

Evidence and improvement

For each project, retain the agreed brief, approvals and changes, relevant design and code versions, test and defect records, release approval, handover material and support records as appropriate to the contract and data-retention requirements. Access must be limited to authorised people.

At project close and at least annually, the proprietor will review delivery against agreed milestones, significant defects, complaints and support performance. Record lessons, improvement actions, owners and completion dates. Review this policy annually and after a material change in services or a significant quality failure.