A SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED REPORT NAVIGATING HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW Ensuring compliance and minimising risk Chris Pope THOROGOOD PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS THOROGOOD PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS A SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED REPORT NAVIGATING HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW – Ensuring compliance and minimising risk Chris Pope Thorogood Publishing Ltd 10-12 Rivington Street London EC2A 3DU t: 020 7749 4748 f: 020 7729 6110 e: info@thorogoodpublishing.co.uk w: www.thorogoodpublishing.co.uk © Chris Pope 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. This Report is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser. No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any material in this publication can be accepted by the author or publisher. A CIP catalogue record for this Report is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 85418 353 2 978-185418353-8 Printed in Great Britain by Marston Digital Other Thorogood Professional Insights Corporate Governance: Guidance on accountability requirements David Martin FCIS FCIPD FIoD Discrimination Law and Employment Issues David Martin FCIS FCIPD FIoD Effective Recruitment: A practical guide to staying within the law Professor Patricia Leighton and Dr Giles Proctor Employee Sickness and Fitness for Work Gillian Howard Employment Law Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions Michael Ryley Strategic Customer Planning Alan Melkman Tax Planning for Businesses and their Owners Peter Hughes Waste Management: The changing legislative climate Caroline Hand Special discounts for bulk quantities of Thorogood books are available to corporations, institutions, associations and other organisations. For more information contact Thorogood by telephone on 020 7749 4748, by fax on 020 7729 6110, or email us: info@thorogoodpublishing.co.uk The author Chris Pope is an active Chartered Member of the Institute of Occupational Health & Safety with 16 years experience in health and safety and over 30 years in the construction industry. He also has a role locally and regionally in other health and safety associations. He manages a small training consultancy and is a consulting editor for three publications for Wolters Kluwer (formerly Croner) and has his work regularly published. Chris travels widely advising small to medium-sized enterprises in chemical, education, engineering, entertainment, construction and retail. NAVIGATING HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW iii THOROGOOD PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS Contents 1 ENFORCEMENT AND INSURANCE 1 Introduction 2 Who are the inspectors? 2 How to respond to a visit from an inspector 3 What are the powers of an inspector? 4 How to respond to enforcement paperwork 5 Insurer’s viewpoint 6 Responding to conditions of insurance 7 A working relationship with the insurer 8 Compensation and civil law 8 Gross negligence and personal responsibility 9 Contributory negligence 10 Constructive dismissal 10 Summary 11 2 DOCUMENTATION 12 Health and safety law 13 Civil law 13 Criminal law 14 The duty of care 14 Finding out about the law 15 Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 16 Reasonable forseeability 17 Safe system of work 19 Purchasing 19 Risk assessment 20 Manufacturer’s handbook 21 Maintenance logbook 22 Statutory inspection records 22 NAVIGATING HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW iv THOROGOOD PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS Pre-use inspection 23 Training 23 Legally required training 24 The lottery 25 Safe employees 26 Example health questionnaire form 26 3 POLICY WRITING 28 A typical policy 29 Arrangements 30 Filling in the detail 33 Golden rules 34 Specialist areas of policy writing 34 Access equipment 35 Charity work 35 Charity volunteers 35 Charity specialist knowledge 35 Charity home visits 36 Charity events 36 Emergencies 36 Employing under 16s 37 Employing under 18s 38 Flexible working including agency and foreign workers 38 Food 38 Horseplay 38 Landlords 39 Machinery 39 Older workers 39 Purchasing 39 Premises including stairs and outside areas 40 Special hazards 40 Training 40 Violence and lone working 40 Women 41 NAVIGATING HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW v THOROGOOD PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS 4 ACCIDENT MANAGEMENT 42 Why have accidents? 43 Reporting and recording 43 Immediate actions 44 First aid 44 Fact finding 45 RIDDOR 47 Immediate reporting 48 Reporting within 10 days of the incident 48 Recommendations 49 5 CONTRACTOR CONTROL AND CONSTRUCTION SAFETY 50 Definitions 51 Risk transfer 51 Who does what? 51 Selection procedure 52 Small contractors 54 Managing and monitoring the work 54 Completion 55 Construction 55 6 RISK ASSESSMENT AND MEASUREMENT 57 Introduction 58 Occupational health and hygiene 58 Manual handling 59 Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) 60 Occupational asthma 60 Noise 61 Vibration 61 Stress 62 Chemicals, dusts and vapours 63 Hot and cold and wet working environments 64 NAVIGATING HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW vi THOROGOOD PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS Fire 64 Legionella 66 Asbestos 66 Slips and trips 67 Process safety 67 Computers 68 Protective equipment and safety devices 68 Traffic management 69 Other risks 70 7 LEGISLATION, INSPECTIONS 72 Main legislation 73 How to arrange for inspections, and their scope and frequency 76 8 THEORY INTO PRACTICE 80 Human error and improving the safety culture 81 Behavioural safety 83 Risk perception 84 Monitoring tools 84 Health and safety committee 85 Inspection 86 Audits 87 Safety tours 87 Reviews 87 The safety bible: HSG 65 88 Permits 89 Safety people 90 Safety organisations 91 NAVIGATING HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW vii THOROGOOD PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS APPENDIX 93 Choosing a consultant 94 Who does what – some specialists 94 Important reference works 95 Specific risk checklists 95 Catering risk checklist 96 Cleaning checklist 97 Construction risk checklist 98 Engineering workshop checklist 99 Grounds risk assessment checklist 100 Houses of multiple occupation 101 IT department risk assessment checklist 105 Office safety checklist 106 Master hazard checklist 107 Useful websites 108 NAVIGATING HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW viii THOROGOOD PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS Chapter 1 Enforcement and insurance Introduction 2 Who are the inspectors? 2 How to respond to a visit from an inspector 3 What are the powers of an inspector? 4 How to respond to enforcement paperwork 5 Insurer’s viewpoint 6 Responding to conditions of insurance 7 A working relationship with the insurer 8 Compensation and civil law 8 Gross negligence and personal responsibility 9 Contributory negligence 10 Constructive dismissal 10 Summary 11 THOROGOOD PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS [...]... ensure that good training rates can be negotiated and a working relationship established with the training provider Managers who are given safety management responsibilities also need training to understand health and safety requirements and how they relate to their own industry Such training ought also to provide an appreciation of how to promote an active health and safety culture By law safety training... was awarded to him as compensation Manufacturer’s handbook Safety and maintenance information should be readily accessible during the risk assessment process The recommendations ought to guide the employer in establishing a suitable maintenance programme Failure to adequately maintain, and failure to carry out maintenance safely, causes many serious accidents Adherence to manufacturer recommended safe... 25 Safe employees 26 Example health questionnaire form 26 N AV I G AT I N G H E A LT H A N D S A F E T Y L AW Chapter 2 Documentation Health and safety law After receiving training in health and safety some managers become fearful Courses might suggest to them that health and safety prosecutions lurk around the corner for even the most diligent, and that prosecutions generally persecute... is an obvious strategy to adopt Often the nameplates on the machine can become illegible The handbook is a useful place to record relevant data from the machine Lack of a manual, where one was available on initial purchase, indicates lack of a diligent application to safety There are many manuals for old equipment available on the Internet THOROGOOD PROFESSIONAL INSIGHTS 21 N AV I G AT I N G H E A LT... S A F E T Y L AW Documentation guideline 1 Obtain signatures Make sure that individuals mentioned in health and safety documentation sign for the receipt of safety equipment, safety instruction etc This may later be crucial evidence that the employer has discharged his duty of care Criminal law There are many health and safety laws This should be no surprise as there are several thousand HSE employees... criminal and civil courts The criminal courts deal with breaches of the law, while the civil courts deal with establishing if compensation can be offered to injured persons In the case of criminal law, inspectors use the various acts and regulations enacted by National Government to evaluate Health and Safety standards Where compensation is sought, the law will be used by the aggrieved party and the... who are already helping themselves towards compliance The other body that interacts with the employer could be the environmental health and safety department of the local authority Again the general ethos is to put significant effort into nudging the employer towards improved health and safety Who are the inspectors? The exacting standards of health and safety are often clarified through the interpretation... expressed that selection by health is discriminatory Advice from an occupational health specialist or the applicant’s doctor should be sought before making a decision to reject an applicant on the basis of ill health or disability Example health questionnaire form Purpose: To assist ‘the employer’ to make adjustments to risk assessments required by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations and. .. duties placed on them by law How to respond to a visit from an inspector Proceed with caution! The majority of inspectors are reasonable and are hoping to find a well-informed manager They will look at premises, equipment and work practices to check that the manager has properly evaluated them for health and safety Many managers will have obtained documentary evidence of this evaluation process from an external... last couple of decades society has begun to adopt the concept that the cause of injury is always attributable to someone else The Health and Safety at Work Act emphasises a degree of personal responsibility for safety There have been prosecutions taken against individual employees and the self employed who have shown total disregard for statutory safety provisions or who have contravened in-house safety . DOCUMENTATION 12 Health and safety law 13 Civil law 13 Criminal law 14 The duty of care 14 Finding out about the law 15 Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 16 Reasonable forseeability. Occupational Health & Safety with 16 years experience in health and safety and over 30 years in the construction industry. He also has a role locally and regionally in other health and safety. the various acts and regulations enacted by National Government to evaluate Health and Safety standards. Where compensation is sought, the law will be used by the aggrieved party and the employer(s)