Health and Safety at Work Act - the act and what it entails

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is the primary piece of legislation covering health and safety in the workplace. This piece of legislation lays out the employer’s responsibilities for health and safety. Employers have a ‘duty of care’ over the health, safety and welfare of their staff in the workplace.The Act specifies the duties that employers have to their staff, to customers and members of the public whilst in the working environment. This health and safety law also states that employees have their own responsibility for keeping themselves and others safe, for example they must follow the guidance in the health and safety training they are provided.However, health and safety legislation limits an employer’s responsibility to what is ‘reasonably practical’. Therefore if the measures required to protect staff and the general public are technically impossible, or the cost of the measures is grossly disproportionate to the risk, then the employer does not have to implement them.Health and safety law requires management to use its common sense in looking what the risks are and identifying what could be done to tackle them. In 1999 the responsibilities of management were clarified in The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (the Management Regulations).A risk assessment is the main requirement of employers, and those with 5 or more staff have to record the findings. The risk assessment required by law should be very straightforward in a typical office environment. It does, however, become a more complicated affair where there are serious hazards present which threaten the health and safety of employers, such as those on an oil rig, a chemical plant or a nuclear power station. 

Managing risks

Health and safety law states that you must manage the risks in the workplace. Therefore, it is vital that you identify the elements which could harm either your staff or the general public. This type of risk assessment helps you to identify the risks so you can decide what you need to do to control them, and put the appropriate measures in place.

Risk Assessment:

A risk assessment shouldn’t require you to produce large quantities of paperwork. A rigorous risk assessment will help you to spot the possible health and safety hazards.  These assessments should be carried out regularly in order to keep abreast of any changes.