The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
Overview
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 imposes general duties on everybody
connected with work..
The general duties contained in the Health and Safety at Work Act are:
Section 1: States the general purposes of Part 1 of the Act, which are to maintain or improve standards of health and safety at work, to protect other people against risks arising from work activities, to control the storage and use of dangerous substances and to control certain emissions into the air.
Section 2: Contains the duties placed upon employers with regard to their employees. These are outlined more fully below.
Section 3: Places duties on employers and the self-employed to ensure their activities do not endanger anybody (with the self-employed that includes themselves), and to provide information, in certain circumstances, to the public about any potential hazards.
Section 4: Places a duty on those in control of premises, which are non-domestic and used as a place of work, to ensure they do not endanger those who work within them. This extends to plant and substances, means of access and egress as well as to the premises themselves.
Section 6: Places duties on manufacturers, suppliers, designers, importers etc in relation to articles and substances used at work. Basically they have to research and test them and supply information to users.
Section 7: Places duties upon employees and these are outlined more fully below.
Section 8: Places a duty on everyone not to intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything provided in the interests of health, safety and welfare.
Section 9: Provides that an employer may not charge his employees for anything done, or equipment provided for health and safety purposes under a relevant statutory provision.
Employers
Section 2(1) Ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees while at work.
Section 2(2)(a-e) Without prejudice to the above, the matters to which the duty extends include:
(a) Provision and maintainance of safe plant and safe systems of work.
(b) Arrangements for ensuring safe means of handling, use, storage and transport of articles and substances.
(c) Provision of information, instruction, training and supervision
(d) Provision of a safe place of work and provision and maintainance of safe access and egress to that workplace.
(e) Provision and maintainance of a safe working environment and adequate welfare facilities. (Note: The above duties are all qualified by the term "so far as is reasonably practicable".)
Employees
Section 7 (a-b) It shall be the duty of every employee while at work:
(a) To take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and others who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.
(b) To co-operate with his employer or any other person, so far as is necessary, to enable his employer or other person to perform or comply with any requirement or duty imposed under a relevant statutory provision.
(Note: These duties have been extended by duties contained in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.)
The Safety Policy
Under Section 2(3) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
o Every employer shall prepare (and as often as
may be appropriate revise) a written statement
of his general policy with respect to:
a) The health and safety at work of his
employees; and
b) The organisation and arrangements in force
for the time being for carrying out that
policy, and bring the statement and any revision of it
to the notice of all his employees.
The above duty has been modified by the Employers' Health and Safety Policy Statements (Exception) Regulations 1975 to exempt employers, who, for the time being, employ less than five employees, from the need to have a written policy (although not from the need to have a policy as such).
In the case of Osborne v Bill Taylor of Huyton Ltd, the employer owned a string of thirty one betting shops, each employing three people. Two of these employees were entitled to a day off each week and replacement staff then were employed. An improvement notice was served on the employer for failing to have a Safety Policy. He still failed to prepare one and he was subsequently prosecuted for contravening the notice. The Court decided that the words "for the time being" meant "at any one time". Therefore, five persons were never actually employed "at any one time" in any of the individual shops. However, a different question then arose. Was the employer carrying out thirty one separate businesses, in which case none of them would require a Safety Policy, or was he carrying out the same business in thirty one separate sites? The Court ruled that it was one business and that, therefore, a Safety Policy was required.
The health and safety policy should contain:
o A General Statements of Intent, dated and signed by
the owner or chief executive.
o The Organisation, who is responsible for doing what
with regard to health and safety.
o The Arrangements, in practice these are often divided
into general arrangements (fire procedures, emergency
procedures, first-aid facilities, emergency procedures,
risk assessment arrangements, etc) which apply to all
employees and specific arrangements (how to use certain
pieces of equipment, how to handled certain substances, etc)
which only apply to specific employees.