Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 is also known as HASAW or HSW and most health and safety legislation is contained in it.

HASAW places the duty on employers to take responsibility for the health and safety of their employees at work “as far as is reasonably practicable”.  This requires employers to:

• Provide and maintain safe systems of work.
• Provide adequate health and safety induction and training for staff.
• Ensure safe operation and maintenance of working equipment.
• Ensure adequate welfare provisions are made.
• Provide a safe place of work including maintaining safe access and egress from the workplace.
• Ensure any materials used are handled, transported, used and stored safely.
• Communicate with safety representatives.

Costs of PPE or any other equipment needed in the interests of health and safety must not be passed to the employee.

There are responsibilities for the employee too. Employees must:

• Take care of their own health and safety and that of others.
• Not interfere with any health hand safety equipment.
• Cooperate with employers.

Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992

These apply to most places of work (not construction, mines or ships) and require employers to ensure the working environment is safe, as free from risk as is reasonably possible and that appropriate equipment is provided where necessary.

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 cover:

• DSE including chairs
• ventilation and windows
• maintenance of equipment
• lighting
• environment around the working area such as traffic, risk of slips, trips and falls
• falling objects
• waste
• entry and egress
• facilities such as restroooms, changing rooms and meals/drinks

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 amended 2002

These regulations require employers to:

• Avoid the need, where possible, for hazardous manual handling.
• Assess the risk of injury from manual handling tasks.
• Reduce the risk “as far as is reasonably practicable”.

In order to achieve the above, employers will need to:

• Provide information and training on correct manual handling techniques.
• Ensure equipment provided is suitable for the purpose for which it is intended.
• Properly maintain manual handling equipment.

Employees have responsibilities too. They should:

• Follow safe systems of work.
• Use equipment correctly and safely.
• Cooperate with employers on health and safety matters.
•  Let their employer know if they identify any manual handling risks
• Ensure they do not put others at risk.

COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002)

This law requires employers to control the use, storage, transport of any substances which may be harmful to health in order to reduce the workers’ possible exposure. In order to do so, employers must:

• Identify any use of substances harmful to health
• Assess the risk of using these substances.
• Reduce or eliminate any risk identified by introducing control measures and ensuring these controls are adequate and properly  used.
• Provide instructions and training for employees and anyone else who may risk exposure.
• Provide monitoring and health surveillance if appropriate
• Plan for an emergency.

When using hazardous substances, employers should consider how these substances cause harm and whether a different substance or process can be used to reduce risk. For instance, painting rather than spraying paint reduces the risk or vapour inhalation.

COSHH covers a wide range of potentially hazardous substances including:

• Chemicals (bleach for instance)
• Products containing chemicals
• Fumes
• Dust
• Vapour
• Germs which may cause disease such as legionella
• Gases and asphysiating gases
• Biological agents (look for the hazard symbols on the packaging)

COSHH does not cover asbestos, lead or radioactive substances because they have their own regulations.

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)

Places duties on businesses and organisations who own, use or operate work equipment. Under these regulations, employers must ensure any equipment provided or used is:

• Suitable for intended use.
• Safe to use.
• Properly maintained.
• Used only by those who have had proper training or instruction.
• Accompanied by health and safety measures such as emergency stop buttons and signage.

Some equipment is also covered in other legislation. For instance PPE equipment is covered by the PPE regulations.

The Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended)

These regulations enforce a maximum weekly working hours, limits on night working and health assessments for night workers.