Background

The history of health and safety legislation can be traced back to the passing of the first factory statue in 1802 enacted as a result of the appalling work conditions for children.

Various laws and legislation were then introduced and amended in a piecemeal fashion for the next 170 years.

In 1972 Lord Robens, in the report bearing his name, underlined that the primary responsibility for the high levels of occupational accidents and disease lay with those who create the risk, employers, and those that work with them. The Robens report went on to form the legal framework of the Health and Safety at Work Act (H&SAWA) 1974 which is an enabling Act. This means that the Secretary of State can produce further, often more detailed, Regulations to flesh out the Act where necessary with a much less onerous parliamentary procedure than that required for new Acts.

The most pervasive result of the H&SAWA is that companies are obliged to provide "safe systems of work", defined as a formal procedure which results from the systematic examination of a task in order to identify all the hazards. It is also recognised that designing and implementing safe systems of work applies not only to the organisations permanent activities and processes, but also to those which can occur at infrequent or irregular intervals, for instance during maintenance or breakdown. However, whilst these formal systems of work need to be "formal" they can either be written or verbal.

The actual Act is enforced using both civil and criminal law. Civil law requires a "duty of care" which is prosecutable and compensatable when negligence is proven. Any decision being made on the "balance of probability." Criminal law is enforced using Health & Safety law which result in fines, prison and criminal records arising from any contravention. Punishment being dealt when issues can be proven "beyond reasonable doubt"

At this point it might be useful to introduce some of the legal terms applied to health and safety:

· Reasonably practicable: what is reasonably practicable is determined by the employer balancing any decision between what is cost effective and the likelihood / severity of a particular problem arising.
· Practicable: decisions must be made within the bounds of known knowledge, cost is NOT a consideration.
· Shall / shall not: where these words are used in law there is an absolute legal requirement
· Hazard: any substance, article, material or practice which has the potential to cause harm to the safety, health or welfare of employees at work and others affected by that work.
· Risk: the likelihood of that potential being realised.
· Competent person: Someone who has sufficient training, experience, knowledge and understanding of the work involved, the capability to apply this to the tasks required, an understanding of current best practice and most importantly, knows their own limitations.

One final, and often overlooked, point before we move on to some of the more common legislation is that you do not have to have had an accident to be in breech of the law!

The next section briefly explains the more common Acts and Regulations and asks a number of questions. If you are able to answer yes to the questions you should be reasonably confident that you are meeting your legislative requirements.

Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASAWA)

The Health and Safety at Work Act applies to all work situations and applied to everyone regardless of whether they are employed or self employed, it also protects anyone else who's health and safety may be affected by the work being undertaken, for instance the general public.

• Do you, so far as reasonably practicable, ensure the health, safety and welfare of your employees?
• Do you, if you have more than 5 staff, have a written statement of health and safety policy which is regularly reviewed and kept up to date?
• Do you provide information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure the health and safety at work of all employees?
• Do you provide a safe place of work with a means of safe access and exit?
• Do you ensure all of your plant and equipment is safe (to use) at all times including maintenance and shutdown periods?
• Do you have safe systems of work, documented where necessary?
• Do you have safe methods for handling, storing and transporting of goods?
• Do you undertake risk assessments for all day to day activities and tasks undertaken by employees? Does this include risk assessments for: Fire, VDU use & manual handling?
• Do you have arrangements for consultation with employees with a view to making and maintaining and promoting effective health and safety?
• Do you allow horseplay to go unchecked?
• Do you provide personal protective equipment (PPE)? If so do you ensure you take all reasonably practicable actions to ensure that it is used?
• Do your employees take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and others that might be affected by their acts, or omissions, at work?
• Do your employees co-operate with their employers, or others who may have legal responsibilities to comply with the Act, its Regulations or associated legislation.
• Do your employees know that they must NOT intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything required by the law and provided in the interests in health and safety.
• Did you know that if one person makes another breech the legislation that person will also be in breech?
• Did you know that if guidance on health and safety is provided to employees but not heeded, then a problem arises as a result of the advice being ignored, a judge might ask "Who was managing health and safety?" In this instance the answer would be the employee. The judge would then remind the employer that it is the employer's duty to manage health and safety.
• Did you know that if an accident or incident occurs during a working operation it cannot be a safe way of working. The operation may have been undertaken many times before without accident or incident. A judge might decide you were previously "just lucky".

Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1992

These regulations are designed help companies manage their health and safety processes and set out more specific responsibilities for both employers and employees. The core of the Regulation is the stipulation that employers undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks in the workplace.

• Do your risk assessments identify the significant risks?
• Do your risk assessments allow for the prioritisation of measures that need to be taken?
• Are your risk assessments appropriate to the nature of work and such that they remain valid for a reasonable period of time?
• Are your risk assessment conducted by a competent person?
• Have you developed emergency procedures for serious and imminent danger and danger areas?
• Do you ensure that temporary workers and visitors are given adequate information regarding health & safety?
• Are your staff encouraged to notify you of shortcomings in the health and safety arrangements?
  

Key Compliance Requirements for Key Regulations

1 - Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992

2 - Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1992

3 - Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992

4 - Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) at Work Regulations 1992

5 - Health & Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992

6 - Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 1994 & 1999

7 - Noise at Work Regulations 1989

8 - Electricity at Work Regulations 1989

9 - Fire Precautions Act 1971 & Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997

10- Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981