What are two health and safety laws affecting the workplace?
Health and safety in the workplace Act 1974 requires you to provide information, training and supervision to ensure the health and safety of your employees at work. You are also expected to protect employees after they return to work if they have become more vulnerable to risk because of illness, injury or disability.
Who enforces the health and safety laws in your workplace?
Health and safety laws applying to your business are enforced by HSE inspectors or by officers from your local authority.
What are the five main responsibilities of the employer under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974?
What are my employer’s duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act?
- a safe system of work;
- a safe place of work;
- safe equipment, plant and machinery;
- safe and competent people working alongside you, because employers are also liable for the actions of their staff and managers;
What duty of care do employers have towards their employees?
Employers also have a duty of care at common law to take reasonable care not to harm their employees where there is a “reasonably foreseeable” risk of injury. A failure to meet this duty of care can result in significant damages awards if the employer’s negligence caused the employee to suffer an injury1.
What are the roles and responsibilities of a health and safety manager?
As a health and safety manager you have a range of responsibilities. You should:
- Formulate policies and procedures.
- Conduct risk assessments.
- Train all employees in your health and safety procedures.
- Conduct frequent safety inspections and checks.
- Understand the importance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
What powers do health and safety enforcement officers have?
HSE inspectors have the power to:
- enter premises;
- inspect and investigate;
- take measurements, samples and photographs;
- require an area or machine to be left undisturbed;
- seize, render harmless or destroy dangerous items; and.
- obtain information and take statements.
What is Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act?
Section 7 places duties on employees to take reasonable care of their own health & safety, and that of anyone who could be adversely affected by their ‘acts or omissions at work’ and to co-operate with their employer in steps to meet legal requirements.
What is Section 4 of the Health and Safety at Work Act?
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.
Can a health and safety manager be prosecuted?
Section 37 HSWA provides that, if a company commits a health and safety offence, then its directors or officers can be prosecuted where the offence can be shown to have been committed through the consent, connivance or neglect of the individuals subject of the prosecution.
Can employees be prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act?
An employee can be prosecuted under section 7 if an incident takes place and they fail to: Take reasonable care of their own health and safety; Take reasonable care of someone else’s health and safety; and. Co-operate with their employer or any individual under a health and safety obligation.