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Health and safety at work
The basis of British health and safety law is 
the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The Act sets out general duties which employers have towards
employees and members of the public, and employees have to
themselves and each other.
These duties are qualified in the Act by the principle of 'so
far as is reasonably practicable'. This means that the degree
of risk in a particular workplace or work activity needs to be
balanced against the
- Time
- Trouble
- Cost
- Physical difficulty of taking measures to avoid or reduce the
risk
What the law requires is what good management and common sense
would lead employers to do anyway - that is, to look at what the
risks are and then take sensible (control) measures to tackle
them.
The Management of Health and
Safety at Work Regulations 1999 generally make more
explicit what employers are required to do under the Health and
Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Like the Act, they apply to all
work activities.
The main requirements are to
i) carry out a risk assessment
ii) make arrangements for implementing the health and safety
measures identified as necessary by the risk assessment
iii) appoint competent people to implement the
arrangements
iv) set up emergency procedures
v) provide information and training to employees
vi) co-operate with other employers sharing the same
workplace
The principle of risk assessment forms the basis for most modern
health and safety law in this country.
A list of the main regulations which apply
generally include:
Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations
1992
- Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations
1992
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulations 1992
- Provision and the Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
- Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981
- Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations
1989
- Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations 1995
- Electricity at Work Regulations 1989
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999
- Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations
1969
Some requirements within these Regulations are not qualified by
'reasonable practicability'.
In supplementing existing arrangements, the Health and Safety
Commission/ Executive have 3 main options:-
1. Guidance
Guidance can be specific to the health and safety problems of an
industry or of a particular process in a number of
industries. The main purposes of guidance are to interpret the
law, to help people comply with the law and to give technical
advice. Following guidance is not compulsory and
employers are free to take other action. However,
following guidance will normally be enough to comply with the
law.
2. Approved codes of practice (ACoPs)
These offer practical examples of good
practice and give advice on how to comply with the
law. They have a special legal
status. If employers are prosecuted for a breach of
health and safety law, and it is proved that they have not followed
the relevant provisions of the ACoP, a court can find them at fault
unless they can show that they have complied with the law in some
other way.
3. Regulations
Regulations are law, approved by Parliament. Some risks are
so great, or the proper control measures so costly, that it would
not be appropriate to give employers discretion in deciding what to
do about them. Regulations identify these risks and set out
specific action that must be taken.
If you run a company, you are required by law to
ensure the health and safety of all people involved with, and
affected by, your organisation's business activities. Read on,
to find out how health and safety and the council apply to you.
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