TABLE OF CONTENTS The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSW Act) is the foundation of British health and safety law. It describes the general duties that employers have towards their employees and towards members of the public, and also the duties that employees have to themselves and to each other.
The term so far as is reasonably practicable qualifies the duties in the HSW Act. In other words, 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.
The law simply expects employers to behave in a way that demonstrates good management and common sense. They are required to look at what the hazards are and take sensible measures to tackle them.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (the Management Regulations) clarifies 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 law requires every employer to carry out a risk assessment. If there are five or more employees in the workplace, the significant findings of the risk assessment need to be recorded.
In a place like an office, risk assessment should be straightforward; but where there are serious hazards, such as those in a chemical plant, laboratory or an oil rig, it is likely to...
