HealthandSafety Executive Healthandsafetyregulation....ashortguide Whythisguide Health and safety regulation ...... a short guide TheHealthandSafetyCommission(HSC)conducted a reviewofhealthandsafety regulationin1994 . Itfoundthatpeoplewereconfusedaboutthedifferences between: guidance ApprovedCodesofPractice(ACOPs) and regulations andhowtheyrelatetoeachother. Thisdocumentaimstoexplainhoweachfitsin.Itisforemployersandself employedpeople,butwillbeofinteresttoanyonewhowantstoknowhowhealth Thisisawebfriendly andsafetylawismeanttowork. versionofleaflet HSC13(rev1),revised 08/03 Whathealthandsafetylawrequires ThebasisofBritishhealthandsafetylawisthe HealthandSafetyatWorketc Act1974. TheActsetsoutthegeneraldutieswhichemployershavetowardsemployeesand membersofthepublic,andemployeeshavetothemselvesandtoeachother. ThesedutiesarequalifiedintheActbytheprincipleof sofarasisreasonably practicable. Inotherwords,anemployerdoesnothavetotakemeasurestoavoid orreducetheriskiftheyaretechnicallyimpossibleorifthetime,troubleorcostof themeasureswouldbegrosslydisproportionatetotherisk. Whatthelawrequireshereiswhatgoodmanagementandcommonsensewould leademployerstodoanyway:thatis,tolookatwhattherisksareandtake sensiblemeasurestotacklethem. TheManagementofHealthandSafetyatWorkRegulations1999(the ManagementRegulations) generallymakemoreexplicitwhatemployersare requiredtodotomanagehealthandsafetyundertheHealthandSafetyatWork Act.LiketheAct,theyapplytoeveryworkactivity. Themainrequirementonemployersistocarryouta riskassessment. Employers withfiveormoreemployeesneedtorecordthesignificantfindingsoftherisk assessment. Riskassessmentshouldbestraightforwardinasimpleworkplacesuchasatypical office.Itshouldonlybecomplicatedifitdealswithserioushazardssuchasthose onanuclearpowerstation,achemicalplant,laboratoryoranoilrig. 1 of7pages HealthandSafety Executive TheHSEleaflet Fivestepstoriskassessment willgiveyoumoreinformation. Besidescarryingoutariskassessment,employersalsoneedto: makearrangementsforimplementingthehealthandsafetymeasuresidentified as necessarybytheriskassessment appointcompetentpeople(oftenthemselvesorcompanycolleagues)tohelp themtoimplementthearrangements setupemergencyprocedures provideclearinformationandtrainingtoemployees worktogetherwithotheremployerssharingthesameworkplace. Otherregulations requireactioninresponsetoparticularhazards,orinindustries wherehazardsareparticularlyhigh.Alistofthemainregulationswhichapply generallyisinAppendix1.Manyarenotqualifiedbyreasonablepracticability. Europeanlaw InrecentyearsmuchofBritainshealthandsafetylawhasoriginatedinEurope. ProposalsfromtheEuropeanCommissionmaybeagreedbyMemberStates,who arethenresponsibleformakingthempartoftheirdomesticlaw. Modernhealthandsafetylawinthiscountry,includingmuchofthatfromEurope, isbasedontheprincipleofriskassessmentdescribedabove. Actiononhealthandsafety:Options TheHealthandSafetyCommissionanditsoperatingarm,theExecutive(HSC/E), havespentovertwentyyearsmodernisingthestructureofhealthandsafetylaw. Theiraimsaretoprotectthehealth,safetyandwelfareofemployees,andto safeguardothers,principallythepublic,whomaybeexposedtorisksfromwork activity. HSC/Econsultfullywithpeopleaffectedbytheirlegislativeproposals,andadopt variousapproachesbasedonassessingandcontrollingrisk(seeWhathealthand safetylawrequires). AmongthethingsthatcanpromptactionfromHSC/Eare: changesintechnologies,industriesorrisks evidenceofaccidentsandillhealth,pluspublicconcern EuropeanDirectives. WhereHSC/Econsideractionisnecessarytosupplementexistingarrangements, theirthreemainoptionsare: guidance ApprovedCodesofPractice and regulations. HSC/Etrytotakewhicheveroption,oroptions,allowsemployersmostflexibility andcoststhemleast,whileprovidingpropersafeguardsforemployeesandthe public. Healthandsafetyregulation 2 of7pages