H & S Training - Legislation
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a government department which employs inspectors who have the responsibility to carry out investigations and inspections in a variety of premises such as factories, schools and hospitals. The remainder of small businesses are inspected by the relevant local authority who employ Environmental Health Officers (EHO) and will carry out inspections in businesses such as restaurants, offices etc.
A Health and Safety inspector or EHO has the power to enter any registered premises at any reasonable time and can based on their findings issue an improvement or prohibition notice and/or carry out an investigation based on an accident that has previously occurred (this may of been reportable under RIDDOR).
The type of documentation an inspector will ask to see include risk assessments, a health and safety policy and equipment maintenance checks among others, this will demonstrate to them that a proactive approach is taken towards Health & Safety.
An improvement notice can be issued when a problem is highlighted and a timescale is then set in order to address the problem.
A Prohibition is issued when there is an immediate risk to the workforce or to the public, this native has immediate effect and can result in part or all of the works being stopped until the appropriate remedies have been put into place.
It is important to be aware of the relevant fines that can be imposed should a prosecution be successful, if the case goes to a magistrate’s court then fines of up to £20,000 and 6 months imprisonment. Should the case be deemed serious enough to go to Crown Court then fines can be unlimited and custodial sentences up to 2 years.
There is a large amount of legislation in place covering Health & Safety, below are some of the Acts and regulations that might affect you in the workplace:
Health & Safety at Work Act 1974
This is the main piece of legislation and acts as an umbrella for other regulations to be introduced and something that everyone should be familiar with.
As an employee, you have a legal responsibility to ensure that you work in a safe and secure manner at all times and co-operate with all procedures set out by your employer related to health and safety. It is important to note that you may be found legally liable if you are found to have caused an accident through improper work practices.
As an employer, you must ensure that you do everything as ‘reasonably practicable’ with regards to your duty to health and safety.
So what does ‘reasonably practicable’ mean? Basically what your company has to do base on cost and resources requires in order to minimise the risk identified.
An employer has a large number of duties to comply with; here are some of the more common ones:
- Provide an maintain the necessary PPE and safety equipment
- Provide adequate staff facilities
- Carry out risk assessments
- Provide adequate training and supervision for all employees
- Maintain a safe and secure safe place of work
Health and Safety also applies to those who are self employed and you should ensure all task carried out do not endanger yourself or those around you.
The Management of Health & Safety at Work regulations 1999
These regulations are mainly around adequate risk assessments be carried out by a competent person identifying all particular hazards and implementing appropriate controls measures.
It also requires that emergency procedures in place for example fire evacuation procedures in place. It is important that employees are aware of risk assessments in place and that training has been carried out with regards to the above.
Other regulations you should be aware of:
- Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 1992
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations 2004
- Noise at Work Regulations 2005
- Electricity at Work Regulations 1989
- Manual Handling Operations 1992
- The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
- RIDDOR 1995
- The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
Further information can be found at http://www.i-resources.co.uk/health-and-safety/online-library/
Finished? Try some sample test questions here. (Answers can be found in the download section)