Health & Safety Requirements Wiltshire

Legal requirements under the Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

What does the act require the employer to comply with if they employ more than 5 people?

Section 2(3) of the H&S at Work etc Act 1974 states:

It shall be the duty of every employer to prepare and as often as may be appropriate revise a written statement of his/her general policy with respect to the health and safety at work of his/her employees and the organisation and arrangements for the time being in force for carrying out that policy, and to bring the statement and any revision of it to the notice of all his/her employees.

• The policy must state the general policy on health and safety
• Describe the organisation and arrangements for carrying out the policy
• Be brought to the notice of all employees
• Be revised whenever appropriate, and every revision must be brought to the attention of all employees
• It is a legal requirement under the Act, and has to be complied with

Legal Considerations

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 places a general duty on employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees. The possible consequences of failing to comply with health and safety legislation, approved codes of practice, guidance notes and accepted standards, plus other relevant legislation in areas such as fire prevention, environmental, pollution and products liability, will have a negative impact on organisations. Loss may result from the preventative (enforcement notices), punitive (criminal sanctions) and compensatory effects of law.

The Law also requires Organisations to carry out Risk Assessments

Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work 1999 Regulations

Requires employers and self-employed to assess the risks to which their employees are exposed and the risks to non-employees created as a result of the way in which they carry out their undertakings. These are general assessments and are applied to all work activities, regardless of any legal or other requirements for specific risk assessments.

The overall purpose of a risk assessment is to identify the measures needed to be taken to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed by and under the relevant statutory provisions.

What is required by the Act pertaining to Risk Assessments?

In short, the legal requirements under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require:

• Employers to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks to the health and safety of employees and non-employees (the assessment is carried out with a view to identifying what measures need to be implemented to comply with legal requirements)
• That the assessment should be reviewed.

That particular emphasis is placed on assessment of risks:

• To new and expectant mothers
• Decide who is at risk
• Evaluate the risk
• Record significant findings
• Review and revision
• INDG 163 introduces five basic steps in the risk assessment process
• Hazard identification
• Decide who is at risk
• Evaluate the risks
• Record significant findings
• Review and revision