Health & Safety at Work Act 1974
Health & Safety Xpert™ Total Toolkit is an easy to use software package that will save you massive amounts of time producing crucial health and safety documentation legally required under current UK law. There are many regulations that apply to construction health and safety but the main regulations are:
- Health & Safety at Work Act 1974
- The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999
- Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM)
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 2002
- Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations Act 1995
The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 describes the general duties that employers have towards their employees and to members of the public:
- The health and safety of people at work
- Protection of other people affected by work activities
- The control of risks to health and safety from articles and substances at work
- The control of some atmospheric emissions
The employers’ main duties are to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety and welfare at work of all their employees. The degree of risk in a particular job or workplace needs to be balanced against the time, trouble, cost and physical difficulty of taking measures to avoid or reduce the risk. In particular:
- The provision of safe plant and systems of work
- The safe use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances
- The provision of any required information, instruction, training and supervision
- A safe place of work including access and egress
- A safe working environment with adequate welfare facilities
The law requires that when more than five people are employed the employer must:
- Prepare a written general health and safety policy
- Set down the organization and arrangements for putting that policy into effect
- Revise and update the policy as necessary
- Bring the policy and arrangements to the notice of all employees
In addition, every employer and self-employed person is under a duty, so far as reasonably practicable, that persons not in their employment (and themselves for self-employed) who may be effected, are not exposed to risks to their health & safety.