2850 L2u201 Powerpoint 02

Health and Safety
Legislation
and
Regulations
Legislation and regulation
Aims and objectives:
• Define the term legislation
• Define the term regulation

Legislation: http://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/acts.htm
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (abbreviated to "HSWA
1974", "HASWA" or "HASAWA") is an Act of the Parliament of the United
Kingdom
The Act defines the fundamental structure and authority for the
encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety
and welfare within the United Kingdom.
Parliaments pass laws. They are called legislation.
Then government regulators have to enforce the law.

The Act:
• defines general duties on employers, employees, contractors, suppliers
of goods and substances for use at work, persons in control of work
premises, and those who manage and maintain them, and persons in
general.
• enables a broad regime of regulation by government ministers through
Statutory Instrument which has, in the years since 1974, generated an
extensive system of specific provisions for various industries, disciplines
and risks
• established a system of public supervision through aids the creation of
the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive,
since merged, and bestows extensive enforcement powers, ultimately
backed by criminal sanctions extending to unlimited fines and
imprisonment for up to two years
• provides a critical interface with the law of the European Union on
workplace health and safety.
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) conducted a review of
health and safety regulation in 1994. It found that people were
confused about the differences between:
• guidance
• Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs), and
• regulations
and how they relate to each other.

What health and safety law requires
• The basis of British health and safety law is the Health and Safety at
Work etc Act 1974.
• The Act sets out the general duties, which employers have towards
employees and members of the public, and employees have to
themselves and to each other.
• These duties are qualified in the Act by the principle of ‘so far as is
reasonably practicable’.
The Management of Health and Safety at
Work Regulations 1999
• These ‘Management Regulations’ generally make more explicit what
employers are required to do to manage health and safety under the
Health and Safety at Work Act. Like the Act, they apply to every work
activity .
• The main requirement on employers is to carry out a risk assessment.
Employers with five or more employees need to record the significant
findings of the risk assessment.
• Risk assessment should be straightforward in a simple workplace such
as a typical office. It should only be complicated if it deals with serious
hazards such as those on a nuclear power station, a chemical plant,
laboratory or an oil rig.
European law
• In recent years much of Britain’s health and safety law has originated in
Europe. Proposals from the European Commission may be agreed by
Member States, who are then responsible for making them part of their
domestic law.
• Modern health and safety law in this country, including much of that from
Europe, is based on the principle of risk assessment described above.
Action on health and safety: options
• The Health and Safety Commission and its operating arm, the
Executive (HSC/E), have spent over 20 years modernising the
structure of health and safety law.
• Itsr aims are to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees,
and to safeguard others, principally the public, who may be exposed
to risks from work activity.
• HSC/E consult fully with people affected by their legislative
proposals, and adopt various approaches based on assessing and
controlling risk (see ‘What health and safety law requires’).
Among the things that can prompt action from HSC/E are:
• changes in technologies, industries or risks;

• evidence of accidents and ill health, plus public concern;
• European Directives. Where HSC/E consider action is necessary to
supplement existing arrangements, their three main options are:
• guidance;
• Approved Codes of Practice; and
• regulations.
HSC/E try to take whichever option, or options, allows employers most

flexibility and costs them least, while providing proper safeguards for
employees and the public.
Guidance
HSE publishes guidance on a range of subjects.
The main purposes of guidance is:

• to interpret helping people to understand what the law says including for
example how requirements based on EC Directives fit with those under
the Health and Safety at Work Act;
• to help people comply with the law;
• to give technical advice.
Following guidance is not compulsory and employers are free to take other
action. But if they do follow guidance they will normally be doing enough to
comply with the law.
HSC/E aim to keep guidance up to date, because as technologies change,

risks and the measures needed to address them change too.
Approved Codes of Practice
• Approved Codes of Practice offer practical
examples of good practice.
• They give advice on how to comply with
the law by, for example, providing a guide
to what is ‘reasonably practicable’.
• HSC consulted in 1995 on the role of
Approved Codes of Practice in the health
and safety system and concluded that they
could still be used in support of legal duties
in specific circumstances.
Regulations
• Regulations are rules, approved by Parliament. These are usually made
under the Health and Safety at Work Act, following proposals from HSC.
This applies to regulations based on EC Directives as well as
‘homegrown’ ones.
• The Health and Safety at Work Act, and general duties in the
Management Regulations, are goalsetting and leave employers
freedom to decide how to control risks which they identify.
• Guidance and Approved Codes of Practice give advice. But some risks
are so great, or the proper control measures so costly, that it would not
be appropriate to leave employers discretion in deciding what to do
about them.
• Regulations identify these risks and set out specific action that must be
taken.
How regulations apply
• Some regulations apply across all companies, such as the Manual
Handling Regulations, which apply wherever things are moved by
hand or bodily force, and the Display Screen Equipment Regulations
which apply wherever VDUs are used.
• Other regulations apply to hazards unique to specific industries, such
as mining or nuclear.
Some important pieces of health and safety
legislation/regulation
Besides the Health and Safety at Work Act itself, the following apply
across the full range of workplaces:
1 Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999: require

employers to carry out risk assessments, make arrangements to
implement necessary measures, appoint competent people and arrange
for appropriate information and training.
2 Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992: cover a
wide range of basic health, safety and welfare issues such as ventilation,
heating, lighting, workstations, seating and welfare facilities.
3 Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992:
set out requirements for work with Visual Display Units (VDUs).
4 Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992: require
employers to provide appropriate protective clothing and equipment for
their employees
5 Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998: require that
equipment provided for use at work, including machinery, is safe.
6 Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992: cover the moving of
objects by hand or bodily force.
7 Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981: cover requirements for
first aid.
8 The Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989:
require employers to display a poster telling employees what they need to
know about health and safety.
9 Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969: require
employers to take out insurance against accidents and ill health to their
employees.
10 Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR): require employers to notify certain
occupational injuries, diseases and dangerous events.
11 Noise at Work Regulations 1989: require employers to take action
to protect employees from hearing damage.
12 Electricity at Work Regulations 1989: require people in control of
electrical systems to ensure they are safe to use and maintained in a
safe condition.
13 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002
(COSHH): require employers to assess the risks from hazardous
substances and take appropriate precautions.
In addition, specific regulations cover particular areas, for example
asbestos and lead, and:
14 Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply)

Regulations 2002: require suppliers to classify, label and package
dangerous chemicals and provide safety data sheets for them.
15 Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994: cover
safe systems of work on construction sites.
16 Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1994: cover safe
installation, maintenance and use of gas systems and appliances in
domestic and commercial premises.
17 Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999: require those
who manufacture, store or transport dangerous chemicals or explosives in
certain quantities to notify the relevant authority.
18 Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations
2002: require employers and the self employed to carry out a risk
assessment of work activities involving dangerous substances.
Summary
• A piece of legislation is an act passed through

parliament and must be obeyed.
• A regulation is a rule set that needs to be followed

to stay within the law.

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Health and Safety

• Define the term legislation

• Define the term regulation

Then government regulators have to enforce the law.

and how they relate to each other.

• changes in technologies, industries or risks;

HSC/E try to take whichever option, or options, allows employers most

The main purposes of guidance is:

HSC/E aim to keep guidance up to date, because as technologies change,

1 Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999: require

14 Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply)

• A piece of legislation is an act passed through

• A regulation is a rule set that needs to be followed

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