At work. Your organisation may be visited by an inspector or team of inspectors. Inspectors may ask...

At work

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Your organisation may be visited by an inspector or team of inspectors. Inspectors may ask to speak to a range of

people in your organisation, which may include representatives from:

the Board of Directors (Chief Executive, HR Director)

Health and Safety

Personnel/Human Resources

Occupational Health

recognised trades union/staff-side representatives

HSE INSPECTORS

Inspectors may exercise the powers set out in Section 20 of The HSWA ect.1974.

1. To enter premises, at almost any time, where it is believed that a dangerous state exists. A police officer may be taken along to help gain entry if required.

2. To carry out any necessary investigations and examinations - taking photographs, drawings and measurements of premises or items within them, taking samples of

articles/substances and of the atmosphere, etc.

3. To direct that premises (in whole or in part) or items within the premises shall be left undisturbed for as long as required to make specialist examination.

4. To dismantle and/or test any item or substance which they decide is harmful to health.

5. To take statements from persons involved with an incident or accident. Interviewees must answer any questions and sign a statement of their answers,

although these are not admissible as evidence in any subsequent proceedings against that person.

6. To inspect any documents, books or records considered relevant to the investigation.

7. To seize and render harmless any articles/substances found to be very dangerous in respect of causing personal injury.

HSE INSPECTORS

If an inspector is of the opinion that a person is contravening one or more of the relevant statutory provisions or has contravened one or more of those

provisions in circumstances that make it likely that the contravention will continue or be repeated, an

"Improvement Notice" may be served requiring that person to remedy the contravention in a given time scale.

HSE INSPECTORS

Inspectors may exercise the powers set out in Section 22 of The HSWA etc. 1974.

If an inspector is of the opinion that a person carrying out activities will involve a risk of serious personal injury or personal injury is imminent, the inspector may serve a "Prohibition Notice" which will have immediate effect.

HSE INSPECTORS

The safety officer is responsible for creating, maintaining and improving safety in the workplace. They are responsible for making sure that legislation is adhered to and assist in planning, implementing, monitoring and reviewing

the health and safety strategies of an organisation.

The role also includes formulating operational procedures that recognise hazards. They seek to minimise conflict between safety and production

considerations and assess risk and propose workable solutions.

Safety officers undertake inspections, carry out accident investigations, keep records and write reports.

They advise on fire regulations, safeguarding machinery, noise, hazardous substances, occupational health and environmental health. Liaison with

professionals, such as officers of enforcing authorities like the Health and Safety Executive, is common.

SAFETY OFFICER

Employers must consult employees on health and safety issues. Consultation must be either direct or through a

safety representative that is either elected by the workforce or appointed by a trade union.

SAFETY REPRESENTATIVE

Environmental health officers make sure that people's living and working surroundings are safe, healthy and hygienic. They work in both the private and pubHAlic

sectors.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS

Employees

Section 7 (a-b) it shall be the duty of every employee while at work:

(a) To take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and others who may be affected by his acts or

omissions at work.

(b) To co-operate with his employer or any other person, so far as is necessary, to enable his employer or other person

to perform or comply with any requirement or duty imposed under a relevant statutory provision.

Section 8: Places a duty on everyone not to intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything provided in the

interests of health, safety and welfare

HSAW

Section 2: Contains the duties placed upon employers with regard to their employees. These are outlined more fully

below.

Every employer shall prepare (and as often as may be appropriate revise) a written statement of his general

policy with respect to:

a) The health and safety at work of his employees; and

b) The organisation and arrangements in force for the time being for carrying out that policy, and bring the statement

and any revision of it to the notice of all his employees.

HASW

Deaths and injuries

If someone has died or has been injured because of a work-related accident this may have to be reported.

Work-related accidents

The accident that caused the death or injury must be connected to the work activity

REPORTING OF INJURIES, DISEASES AND DANGEROUS OCCURRENCES REGULATIONS

1995 (RIDDOR) CHANGE – 6 APRIL 2012

Types of reportable injury

Deaths

Major injuries

Over-seven-day injuries

Reportable major injuries are:

fracture, other than to fingers, thumbs and toes;

amputation;

dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee or spine;

loss of sight (temporary or permanent);

chemical or hot metal burn to the eye or any penetrating injury to the eye;

REPORTING OF INJURIES, DISEASES AND DANGEROUS

OCCURRENCES REGULATIONS 1995 (RIDDOR) CHANGE – 6

APRIL 2012

injury resulting from an electric shock or electrical burn leading to unconsciousness, or requiring resuscitation or admittance to

hospital for more than 24 hours;

any other injury leading to hypothermia, heat-induced illness or unconsciousness, or requiring resuscitation, or requiring

admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours;

unconsciousness caused by asphyxia or exposure to a harmful substance or biological agent;

acute illness requiring medical treatment, or loss of consciousness arising from absorption of any substance by inhalation, ingestion

or through the skin;

acute illness requiring medical treatment where there is reason to believe that this resulted from exposure to a biological agent or its

toxins or infected material



APRIL 2012

Over-seven-day injuries

As of 6 April 2012, the over-three-day reporting requirement for people injured at work changed to more

than seven days.

Now you only have to report injuries that lead to an employee or self-employed person being away from work, or unable to perform their normal work duties, for more

than seven consecutive days as the result of an occupational accident or injury (not counting the day of the accident but including weekends and rest days). The report

must be made within 15 days of the accident.


OCCURRENCES REGULATIONS 1995 (RIDDOR) CHANGE – 6 APRIL 2012

Over-three-day injuries

You must still keep a record of the accident if the worker has been incapacitated for more than three consecutive days. If you are an employer, who must keep an accident book under the Social Security (Claims and Payments)

Regulations 1979, that record will be enough



APRIL 2012

Five steps to risk assessment Page 2 of 8

How to assess the risks in your workplace

Follow the five steps in this leaflet:

Step 1

Identify the hazards

Step 2

Decide who might be harmed and how

Step 3

Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions

Step 4

Record your findings and implement them

Step 5

Review your assessment and update if necessary

RISK ASSESSMENT

Walk around your workplace and look at what could reasonably be expected

to cause harm.

■■ Ask your employees or their representatives what they think. They may have

noticed things that are not immediately obvious to you.

■■ Visit the HSE website (www.hse.gov.uk). HSE publishes practical guidance on

where hazards occur and how to control them. There is much information here

on the hazards that might affect your business.

■■ If you are a member of a trade association, contact them. Many produce very

helpful guidance.

■■ Check manufacturers’ instructions or data sheets for chemicals and

equipment as they can be very helpful in spelling out the hazards and putting

them in their true perspective.

RISK ASSESSMENTSTEP 1

For each hazard you need to be clear about who might be harmed; it will help you

identify the best way of managing the risk. That doesn’t mean listing everyone by

name, but rather identifying groups of people (eg ‘people working in the storeroom’

or ‘passers-by’).

In each case, identify how they might be harmed, ie what type of injury or ill health

might occur. For example, ‘shelf stackers may suffer back injury from repeated

lifting of boxes’.


Having spotted the hazards, you then have to decide what to do about them. The

law requires you to do everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect people from

harm. You can work this out for yourself, but the easiest way is to compare what

you are doing with good practice. So first, look at what you’re already doing, think about what controls you have in

place and how the work is organised. Then compare this with the good practice

and see if there’s more you should be doing to bring yourself up to standard. In

asking yourself this, consider:


Can I get rid of the hazard altogether?

■■ If not, how can I control the risks so that harm is unlikely?

When controlling risks, apply the principles below, if possible in the following order:

■■ try a less risky option (eg switch to using a less hazardous chemical);

■■ prevent access to the hazard (eg by guarding);

■■ organise work to reduce exposure to the hazard (eg put barriers between

pedestrians and traffic);

■■ issue personal protective equipment (eg clothing, footwear, goggles etc); and

■■ provide welfare facilities (eg first aid and washing facilities for removal of

contamination).

Improving health and safety need not cost a lot.


Improving health and safety need not cost a lot. For instance, placing a mirror on a

dangerous blind corner to help prevent vehicle accidents is a low-cost precaution

considering the risks. Failure to take simple precautions can cost you a lot more if

an accident does happen.

Involve staff, so that you can be sure that what you propose to do will work in

practice and won’t introduce any new hazards


Putting the results of your risk assessment into practice will make a difference when

looking after people and your business.

Writing down the results of your risk assessment, and sharing them with your staff, encourages you to do this.

If you have fewer than five employees you do not have

to write anything down, though it is useful so that you can review it at a later date

if, for example, something changes.

When writing down your results, keep it simple, for example ‘Tripping over rubbish:

bins provided, staff instructed, weekly housekeeping checks’, or ‘Fume from

welding: local exhaust ventilation used and regularly checked


You need to be able to show that:

■■ a proper check was made;

■■ you asked who might be affected;

■■ you dealt with all the significant hazards, taking into account the number of

people who could be involved;

■■ the precautions are reasonable, and the remaining risk is low; and

■■ you involved your staff or their representatives in the process.


A good plan of action often includes a mixture of different things such as:

■■ a few cheap or easy improvements that can be done quickly, perhaps as a

temporary solution until more reliable controls are in place;

■■ long-term solutions to those risks most likely to cause accidents or ill health;

■■ long-term solutions to those risks with the worst potential consequences;

■■ arrangements for training employees on the main risks that remain and how they are to be controlled;

■■ regular checks to make sure that the control measures stay in place; and

■■ clear responsibilities – who will lead on what action, and by when.


Few workplaces stay the same. Sooner or later, you will bring in new equipment, substances and procedures that could lead to new hazards.

It makes sense, therefore, to review what you are doing on an ongoing basis. Every year or so formally review where you are, to make sure you are still improving, or at least not sliding back, Look at your risk assessment again. Have there been any changes?

Are there improvements you still need to make? Have your workers spotted a problem?

Have you learnt anything from accidents or near misses? Make sure your risk

assessment stays up to date.


PUWER requires that equipment provided for use at work is:

suitable for the intended use

safe for use, maintained in a safe condition and inspected to ensure it is correctly installed and does not subsequently deteriorate

used only by people who have received adequate information, instruction and training

accompanied by suitable health and safety measures, such as protective devices and controls. These will normally include emergency stop devices, adequate means of isolation from sources of energy, clearly visible markings and warning devices

used in accordance with specific requirements, for mobile work equipment and power presses

MOVING OF MATERIALS

These Regulations (often abbreviated to LOLER) place duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over lifting equipment. This includes all businesses and organisations whose employees use lifting equipment, whether owned by them or not. In most cases, lifting equipment is also work equipment so the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) will also apply (including inspection and maintenance). All lifting operations involving lifting equipment must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner.

MOVING OF MATERIALSLIFTING

LOLER also requires that all equipment used for lifting is fit for purpose,

appropriate for the task, suitably marked and, in many cases, subject to statutory

periodic 'thorough examination'. Records must be kept of all thorough examinations and any defects found must be reported to

both the person responsible for the equipment and the relevant enforcing

authority.


If your business or organisation undertakes lifting operations or is involved in providing lifting

equipment for others to use, you must manage and control the risks to avoid any injury or damage.

Where you undertake lifting operations involving

lifting equipment you must: plan them properly

using people who are sufficiently competent supervise them appropriately

to ensure that they are carried out in a safe manner


Waste containers should be stored in a secure manner and protected from extreme environments. They should be segregated and stored in compatible hazard classes (flammable, corrosive, oxidizers, etc.) to

prevent hazardous reactions if the wastes combine. The containers should remain

closed during storage, except when adding or removing waste.

WASTE DISPOSAL

WASTE DISPOSAL

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