Welcome to City Safety Solutions Limited

The Health and Safety at Work  Act 1974 (HSWA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that as of 2011 defines the fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare within the United Kingdom.

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.

Section 2 states that “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his / her employees, and in particular that such a duty extends to:

• Provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health;
• Arrangements for ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances.
• Provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees.
• So far as is reasonably practicable as regards any place of work under the employer’s control, the maintenance of it in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks;
• Provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.’

The HSWA 1974 is supported with a number of Regulations which are laid down by Government ministers; there are many different regulations, some of which are listed below.

• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. …
• The Work at Height Regulations 2005
• The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
• The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. …
• The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992. …
• The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992. …
• The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.

The short answer is the Employer.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, in particular, regulation 3 advises that the employer should make a suitable & sufficient assessment of risk.

There are other regulations/orders that also advise on the need for risk assessments to be carried out.

Risk assessment

3.—(1) Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of—

(a)the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and

(b)the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking,

(2) Every self-employed person shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of—

(a)the risks to his own health and safety to which he is exposed whilst he is at work; and

(b)the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking,

for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provision

Risk assessments are monitored by the task supervisors who will be looking to see if the control measures identified in the risk assessment are being followed.

Risk assessments should be reviewed at least as part of an annual review or if some of the following has changed.

• Changes to Legislation
• Changes to task
• Accidents or a near miss
• If any person raises a concern about the working practice

If any of these are a concern then the risk assessment should be revisited and updated as required.

For professional help managing your risk assessments, contact City Safety Solutions.

Regulation 3 of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 advise that we need to complete risk assessments.

Risk assessment

3.—(1) Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of—

(a)the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and

(b)the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking,

Your goal should be to prevent all accidents to your team and others who may be affected by your activities, not only is it the law but it a moral obligation to care for others.

Failure to carry out a risk assessment leaves an employer liable to prosecution.

It is widely known that employees can pursue injury claims for accidents that occur in the workplace or during the course of their employment if their employers have been negligent or breached their statutory duties.

Our job is to assist you in reducing your exposure and to limit your liabilities, helping you with your risk management is part of that process, you need to be in a position to demonstrate that you have been pro-active and diligent in relation to risk management in your workplace.

A moral obligation to all is a good start – following policies & procedures helps everyone and offers you the legal protection you would need if things go wrong.

A formal boardroom review of health and safety performance is essential. It allows the board to establish whether the essential health and safety principles – strong and active leadership, worker involvement, and assessment and review – have been embedded in the organisation. It tells you whether your system is effective in managing risk and protecting people.

The board should review health and safety performance at least once a year.

The review process should:

• examine whether the health and safety policy reflects the organisation’s current priorities, plans and targets;
• examine whether risk management and other health and safety systems have been effectively reporting to the board;
• report health and safety shortcomings, and the effect of all relevant board and management decisions;
• decide actions to address any weaknesses and a system to monitor their implementation;
• consider immediate reviews in the light of major shortcomings or events.

The following regulations advise the below;

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Regulation 7:

Health and safety assistance

Every employer shall, subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), appoint one or more competent persons to assist him in undertaking the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Safety assistance.

Article 18:

The responsible person must, subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), appoint one or more competent persons to assist him in undertaking the preventive and protective measures.

For more information about health and safety assistance, contact City Safety Solutions today.

Whether you work on a building site or in an office you should carry out at least one fire drill per year and record the results. You must keep the results as part of your fire safety and evacuation plan.

Fire risks assessments are required in all places of works and or communal areas of private residential buildings etc.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 advises on the need for responsible persons to take General Fire Precautions as below:

• Means to detect fire
• Means to raise the alarm in the event of a fire
• Means to fight fire
• Means to escape from fire

You need to train new staff when they start work and tell all employees about any new fire risks.

City Safety Solutions offer fire training courses that will equip your construction team with the fire awareness they need to keep your site safe.

We can help you in the event that you need to conduct an accident/incident investigation and take control of the RIDDOR reporting requirements on your behalf.

Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR)

RIDDOR puts duties on employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises (the Responsible Person) to report certain serious workplace accidents, occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences (near misses).

What must be reported:

• Deaths and injuries caused by workplace accidents
• Occupational diseases
• Carcinogens mutagens and biological agents
• Specified injuries to workers
• Dangerous occurrences
• Gas incidents

Reporting RIDDOR incidents must be done to the HSE within a certain timeframe dependant on the incident being reported, incidents can be reported using the online HSE form F2508 / F2508A.

Only ‘responsible persons’ including employers, the self-employed and people in control of work premises should submit reports under RIDDOR.

All incidents can be reported online, but a telephone service is also provided for reporting fatal/specified incidents only – call the Incident Contact Centre on 0345 300 9923 (opening hours Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm).