Heath and Safety Legislation

Health and safety legislation
Health and safety legislation

Level 3health and social care

9/27/2012
Level 3health and social care

9/27/2012

Rebecca Austin
This document will explain nine parts of this legislation in detail. Also it will explain the duties of each individual in a work place.

Rebecca Austin
This document will explain nine parts of this legislation in detail. Also it will explain the duties of each individual in a work place.

Health and safety legislation

Health and safety at work act
The key points of the Health and Safety act are:
The Act sets the duties out for employers, which they have to follow; the duties say that the employer has towards their employees and also the service users. The Act also sets duties for the employees to have towards themselves and the service users. The Act also states that the employers is required to look at what risks there are in the work place for employees and service users. The law says that if any risks are found that the employer must take sensible measures to tackle them.

The employer’s duties: The employer must provide the employees with the correct information such as posters on walls and booklets for them to read in their spare time. Employers also have a duty to provide all employees with instructions and training. Also if an employee is in training they will need to be supervised at times if necessary and the employer have a duty to do this. In a work place the employer should risk everything and if any risks are found the employer must take sensible measures to tackle them.
The Employees duties: All employees must take responsible care of their own health and safety. Also they have a responsibility of any one who could be an adversely affected by their acts or omissions at work. In a work place a duty is given to all employees to co-operate with the employer with regards to use of equipment and devices and report without delay any work situations which may present a serious and imminent danger.

The service user’s duties:
All service users must take responsible care. They must also abide by the same duties as an employee. All service users must also co-operate with the employees and the employers in respect of the health and safety matters.

Manual Handling Operations Regulations
The key points of the Manual Handling Operations are:
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations define it as any transporting or supporting of a load (including the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or by bodily force. In effect, any activity that requires an individual to lift, move or support a load will be classified as a manual handling task. These regulations set many duties for both employers and employees. The act states that the employers have a duty to carry out reasonably practicable if there is a possibility of injury. If this cannot be done they must reduce the risks of injury as much as possible.

The employer’s duties
The main duties of an employer come in three categories: 1. Avoid-employers have an obligation to minimize the need for hazardous manual handling. 2. Assess- employers must assess any hazardous manual handling that cannot be avoided. They must also assess the risk of injury. 3. Reduce- the employer must reduce as much as plausible the risk of hazardous manual handling.

The employee’s duties are:
The employee has more duties that the employer. All employees have five categories they must abide by 1. All employees must follow the system of work that has been but in to place. This will protect their safety, and minimize the risk of injury. 2. All employees must use the correct equipment correctly that they have been provided with. 3. To support the employer to achieve his/her obligations. so wherever it is possible for an employee they must avoid, assess and reduce the amount of manual handling necessary. 4. Employees must co-operate with all obligations of the employer on and heath and safety matter. 5. Employees must ensure that they are not putting any other person at risk by their own actions.

The service user’s duties:
In the case of this regulation all service users must abide by the same rule as the employee but with a small difference they must not do anything that they have not been trained to do such as heavy lifting. They may lift their own personal item but not any items in the work place unless told to do so buy an employee or employer.

Control of Substance Hazardous to Heath Regulations
The key points of Control of Substance Hazardous to Health Regulation:
All workplaces have to have a control of substance hazardous to health file. The file should consist of a list of all chemicals kept in the work place. It should detail: * Where the chemicals are kept in the workplace. * How the chemicals are labelled. * What effects the chemicals may have. * Is should also say the maximum amount of time a person should be exposed to the chemical. * It should state in detail how to deal with a emergency involving one of the chemicals.
The employer’s duties:
The employer should ensure that all their duties are fulfilled regular so that they up always up to date. * Suitable and sufficient assessments are made of the risks to health created by work involving the use of substances hazardous to health. * Such assessments are updated should they be no longer valid or, significant changes have taken place. * All substances bearing a COSHH warning label are not used unless they are entered on the substance inventory and the Material Safety Data Sheets have been obtained. * Information, instruction, training and where appropriate supervision, is given to employees on the risks to health created by exposure to hazardous substances and the precautions to be taken.

The employees duties:
All employees must follow these duties to make sure that the abide by the laws that are in place. Under no circumstances are employees to bring substances onto the premises that the Company does not use in connection with its business. * Employees have a duty to read all COSHH information posters and signs as displayed in the company’s premises and to use all hazardous substances safely and in accordance with instructions given. * To ensure that warning labels are not removed from any container holding any hazardous substance. * To inform the Management of any situation that they consider may lead to a serious and immediate danger to health or safety or, of any shortcomings they may find in the arrangements for COSHH.

Personal Protective Equipment Regulations
The key facts of Personal Protective Equipment Regulations are:
The regulation requires personal protective equipment; for example, eye protection, gloves, and an apron. This should be supplied and used at work whenever and wherever there may be a risk to the workers and also the service user’s health and safety, where there is no other way to control the risk.
The employer’s duties are:
The Personal Protective Equipment Regulations place a duty on the employer to assess and review the situation then they must take actions against it by supplying protective equipment, to protect the employee and service users. The employer must assess the need to provide personal protective equipment. Personal protective equipment should be provided only when other control measures have been examined and either implemented or set aside as they have been said to be impractical.
The personal protective equipment will only be deemed to be suitable if: * it is appropriate for the risks involved; * it takes into account the ergonomic requirements and the state of health of the wearer; * it can be fitted properly by the wearer; * it is effective as a means of controlling

The employee’s duties are:
Every employee should use all equipment that they are provided, they also each employee who has been provided with personal protective equipment shall report to their employer any loss of or obvious defect in that personal protective equipment. The list below shows what employees must do in the work place to fit with this regulation. Every employee must: * use PPE in accordance with training and instructions; * return all PPE equipment to the appropriate accommodation; * report any defects or loss in the equipment to the employer
The service duties are:
The service user may be given equipment to keep them safe in the workplace. Service users have the same duties as an employee. These include: * report any defects with the equipment * use the equipment correctly and safely * return all equipment to the correct place
These duties mean that the service users have to be compliant with these regulations to make sure that there health and safety is protected.

Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations.
The key facts of Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations are:
This regulations aims to reduce the risk from lifting equipment provided for use at work. The regulation says that all equipment that is provided to be: strong and stable enough for particular use and marked to indicate safe working loads. Used properly and safely, i.e. the work is planned, organised and performed by competent people.
The employer’s duties include:
The employer has nearly all the duties in this regulation as they are the one that need to provide the equipment and keep on top of the maintenance. The list below show all the duties of the employer * Ensure that the equipment used is sufficiently strong, stable and suitable for the proposed use. * Ensure that the equipment is installed or positioned to prevent the risk of injury. * Ensure that all lifting equipment is marked with its safe working load. * Ensure that all lifting operations are properly planned by a competent person. * Ensure that all employees have appropriate training and instruction so that they are able to ensure that the equipment is safe to use. * Ensure that all lifting equipment is thoroughly examined before being used for the first time. * Ensure that thorough examinations take place every 6 months or in accordance with a scheme of examination.

The employee’s duties:
While your employees do not have a large amount of duties under lifting operations and lifting equipment regulations, they do have general duties under the health and safety at work act and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations. For example, to take reasonable care of themselves and others who may be affected by their actions and to co-operate with others. The main duties as an employee are to report any risk with the operation of equipment. As long as all employees follow the training that they have been given on this regulation then they are abiding by the law.
The service user’s duties are: While the employee and employer have all the duties the service users has no duties in this regulation as they are not at risk as long as the employee and employer correctly follow their duties.

Misuse of Drugs Act
The key facts of the Misuse of drugs Act are:
This Act relates to the misuse of drugs. All drugs are put in to categories there are three different classes of drugs: A, B and C, it is an offence to take any drugs in the work place and the person responsible will be held accountable for.
The employer’s duties:
Under the Misuse of Drugs Act it is an offence for an employer to knowingly allow substances, to be used, kept or supplied on their premises. It is also illegal under the Act for an employer to ignore any occurrences involving drugs in the work place. Possession, use or supply of illegal substances, or being complicit in such behaviour by others, is strictly forbidden in the workplace and will result in disciplinary procedures being instigated. So if an employer discovers that any person in the work place has been involved in using, supplying or keeping them on the premises the situation should be investigated and if the person if found to be doing so they can be convicted with such crimes and lose your job.
The employees Duties:
All employees have a duty to follow the same rules as the employer to make sure that all offences are reported to that the employer is aware of what is going on in the work place. An employee has a duty to them self and their employer to make sure that if they are keeping the service users healthy and safe in the work place, so the employee has a duty not to have drugs on the work premises and to make sure that they are not taking any drugs.
The service users Duties are:
The service users have a duty to not fetch any drugs on to the premises and to report any drugs seen to be using on the premises or found on the premises to an employee or the employer.

Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations
The key point of the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulation are:
This regulation requires the employer to provide adequate equipment, facilities and personnel to enable first aid to any person whom may be ill or injured at work.

The employer’s duties include:
The employer has a duty to carry out assessments to decide how many first aiders they will need in the work place. The employer all need to ensure that all first aid equipment and facilities are adequate and the employer need to make sure they are all up to date. The employer need to make sure the all equipment is stock up all the time for any occasion to make sure that there is everything there. Also an employer needs to make sure that all employers need to know where all the first aid equipment is and that the first aid arrangements in the work place.
The employee’s duties include:
It is the responsibility of all first aid trained employee’s to ensure: * An accident report is completed when an employee is injured in an accident/incident * The employer or manager is informed of any accident or incident so that an investigation can be conducted if necessary * The first aid room is kept clean and is only used for its intended purpose * There is sufficient first aid stock and it is within its ‘use by date’

The service user’s duties are:

There are no real duties for a service users, the only real duty they have is to report any incident to an employee or an employer. As a service user they have no other duties.

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations

The key fact of Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations are:

This regulation states that the employers have to asses any risks which are associated with the work place. After the employer has carried out the risk assessment they must then put control measures in to place to make sure the risk has been eliminated or at least the risk had been made smaller.

The employer’s duties are:
The employer’s duties include the duty to protect the health, welfare and safety of the employees and other people who might be affected by the employers business. The employer has a duty to do whatever is in his/her power to achieve this. The employer also has a duty to carry out assessment in the workplace to asses if there are any risks that may cause accidents or incidents in the work place. The employer must provide information about the risks in the workplace and how the employees or anyone in the workplace can protect them self’s. They also must instruct and train his employees how to deal with the risks.

The employee has duties are:
All employers are entitled to work in an environment where the risks to their health and safety are properly controlled. The employees have a duty to take care of their own health awn health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their own actions at work. All employees have a duty to co-operate with their employers and their co-workers to help everyone meet their legal requirements. As an employee if you have any specific queries or concern relating to health and safety in the work place, you should talk to your employer, manager/supervisor or a health and safety representative.

The service user’s duties are:
The service user only has one duty in the work place which is to report any risks or accident or injuries to a employee or employer. Also they must co-operate with the employee and employer to make sure they are safe in the work place. If the service user has any queries about any health and safety they should speak to the employer or a health and safety representative.

Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulation
The key facts of this regulation are:
This regulation states that the employer must report all incidents in the work place. They must also report diseases or specific dangerous occurrences (near misses). All incidents must be recorded and kept in a file.
The employer’s responsibilities are:
The employer’s duties are to make sure that all incidents are reported and logged correctly and to make sure all incidents are kept on file. They must make sure that even near misses are reported to make sure that they are abiding by all the laws that are there.

The employee’s responsibilities are:
The employee has a responsibility to report any incidents, diseases or near misses to the employer. The employer must also make sure that they fill out the correct forms to makes sure if the person whom obtained the injury is covered if they try to sue the company.

The service user’s responsibilities:
The service user only has one responsibility which is to report the incident, accident or specific near misses to an employee or the employer to make sure all the forms are filled out and the correct procedures are taken. The if the service user is required to give a statement on what happen the have a duty to provide this.