What Health and Safety Law Applies
Have you got health and safety under control
You must do risk assessments – careful examinations of what could cause harm to people in your work:
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (Risk Assessment)
- Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996
- Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977
Chances of slipping or tripping at work
This is the most common cause of injuries at work. The estimated cost to employers of all these injuries is over £300 million a year:
- Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
Do you work with, or come into contact with Asbestos?
This is the largest single cause of work related fatal disease and ill health in GB. Asbestos can be found in buildings built from 1950 to 1985 in many forms. It may also be found in some vehicle brake pads and clutch linings:
- Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 1987 (as amended)
- Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations 1983 (as amended)
- Asbestos (Prohibitions) Regulations 1992 (as amended)
Do you work with hazardous substances
This can include chemicals that people make or work with directly, and also dust, fume and bacteria which can be present in the workplace:
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH)
- Chemical (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Reg
Do you preform work at height and if so is it done safely?
Falls from a height account for around 70 fatalities and 400 major injuries every year:
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1988.
- Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996.
Do you use computers or other display screen equipment?
Using a computer or other kinds of display screen equipment can give risk to back problems, repetitive strain injury or other musculo-skeletal disorders:
- Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992.
Is your workplace noisy?
High levels of noise at work can cause hearing loss. This can take many years to become serious:
- Noise at Work Regulations 1989
Are you exposed to vibration?
Vibration from work with powered hand-held tools, equipment or processes can damage the hands and arms of users causing hand-arm vibration syndrome:
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
- Provision and Use of Work Eqyuipment Regulations 1998.
How Safe is electricity in your workplace?
Most deaths are caused by contact with overhead or underground power cables:
- Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
Do you know how to select and use your work equipment?
Accidents involving work equipment happen all the time, many serious and some fatal:
- Provison and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998
- Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 1992, as amended 1994
What if maintenance and building work takes place?
It's easy to overlook these activities because they happen now and again, and it often a agency or contractor doing the work:
- Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 (building work)
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1988
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
- Confined Spaces Regulations 1997
What do you do if there's an accident at work?
Reporting accidents and ill health at work is a legal requirment:
- The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981
- Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR)
Do you know where harmful radiation occurs?
Various kinds of radiation, both ionising and non-ionising, may affect us:
- Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
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