Health & Safety At
Work
The law imposes a
responsibility on the employer to ensure
safety at work for all their employees.
Much of the law
regarding safety in the work place can
be found in the Health & Safety At Work
Act 1974.
Employers have to
take reasonable steps to ensure the
health, safety and welfare of their
employees at work.
Failure to do so
could result in a criminal prosecution
in the Magistrate's Court or a Crown
Court. Failure to ensure safe working
practises could also lead to an employee
suing for personal injury or in some
cases the employer being prosecuted for
corporate manslaughter.
As well as this legal
responsibility, the employer also has an
implied responsibility to take
reasonable steps as far as they are able
to ensure the health and safety of their
employees is not put at risk. So an
employer might be found liable for his
actions or failure to act even if these
are not written in law.
An employer should
assess the level of risk as against the
cost of eliminating that risk in
deciding whether they have taken
reasonable steps as far as they are
able.
The employer's
responsibility to the employee might
include a duty to provide safe plant and
machinery and safe premises, a safe
system of work and competent trained and
supervised staff. Certain groups of
employees may require more care and
supervision than others, for example
disabled workers, pregnant workers,
illiterate workers etc.
Usually the
employer's responsibility is only to his
or her own employees and premises;
however, the responsibility can be
extended in some circumstances.
For example:
-
Where employees
from different firms are employed on
one job, the main contractor will
then be responsible for
co-ordinating the work in a safe
manner and must inform all employees
of possible hazards whether they are
his actual employees or not.
-
Where the
employee is sent to work for someone
else but remains employed by the
same employer but an accident
happens at the place where he has
been sent to work, the
responsibility may fall on the
original employer.
-
The employer may
also have responsibility to
customers or visitors who use the
work place.
It is always
advisable for employers to have a
written code of conduct, rules regarding
training & supervision, and rules on
safety procedures. This should include
information on basic health and safety
requirements. Leaflets and posters
giving warnings of hazards are always
advisable.
In any event an
employer must establish a health and
safety policy if they employ five or
more workers. Where there is a
recognised trade union in the workplace,
which has appointed a safety
representative that person must be
consulted when drawing up the safety
policy.
Also the management
of Health & Safety At Work Regulations
1992 requires an employer to carry out a
risk assessment of the work place and
put in place appropriate control
measures.
Any prospective
employer setting up a new business
should be aware of six important
regulations which came about as a result
of membership to the European Union and
are incorporated into UK law.
Management of Health
and Safety at Work Regulations 1992
places an obligation on the employer to
actively carry out a risk assessment of
the work place and act accordingly.
Work place (Health,
Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
deals with maintenance of the premises
e.g. floors and corridors etc.
Provision And Use Of
The Work Equipment Regulations 1992
deals with guarding dangerous machines.
The Manual Handling
Operations Regulations 1992
deals with the manual handling of
equipment, stocks, materials etc.
Personal Protective
Equipment Work Regulations 1992
deals with the introduction of
protective clothing etc. where
necessary.
The Health & Safety
(Display Screen Equipment) Regulations
1992
introduced measures to prevent
repetitive strain injury, fatigue, eye
problems etc. in the use of
technological equipment.
The Health & Safety
Executive and the Environmental Health
Departments for the local authorities
are responsible for enforcing the Health
& Safety at Work Act 1974 and the
various regulations.
They can provide
information and guidance as well as
enter premises to investigate conditions
or seize and destroy harmful substances.
They can also prosecute employers or
serve Notices on them to improve working
conditions, or in some cases serve
Notices that work should stop
altogether.
The Interactive
Law Group