The cornerstone piece of health and safety legislation in the UK is the Health & Safety At Work Act 1974.
Several other pieces of legislation relate to protecting the safety of workers:
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007
Health & Safety Offences Act 2008
No one has to have been harmed for an offence to be committed under Health & Safety at Work Act – there only has to be risk of harm.
It is important that you manage and control risk in the workplace.
Paperwork alone does not prove that you're complying with the law.
It is not good enough for companies to assume they are doing all they can to control the risk just because there have been no previous incidents.
It is not against the law to work alone, and for many employees it is safe to do so.
It will often be safe to work alone. However, the law requires you to think about and deal with any health and safety risks before people are allowed to do so.
While there are no specific laws that govern lone workers, they are at greater risk of hazards causing harm.
Before allowing staff to work alone, employers must put measures in place to protect their safety.
You must put clear procedures in place. HSE suggests:
Pre-agreed intervals of regular contact (e.g. via phone, radio or email)
Personal safety device or app
Supervisors periodically visiting and observing lone workers
Protecting the health and safety of employees or members of the public who may be affected by your activities is an essential part of risk management and must be led by the board.
Health and safety law places duties on organisations and employers, and directors can be personally liable when these duties are breached; members of the board have both collective and individual responsibility for health and safety.
An offence under this act will be committed where failings by an organisation’s senior management are a substantial element in any gross breach of the Duty of Care owed to the organisation’s employees or members of the public, which results in death.
The maximum penalty for a director successfully prosecuted is a two year custodial sentence.
A jam and preserve manufacturer was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of more than £5,000 after a worker sustained multiple fractures after falling from a ladder.
The court heard how the worker was installing a security camera using an unsecured ladder. The ladder slipped and the worker fell approximately 15ft sustaining multiple fractures to his right arm, left leg, cheekbone and a dislocation of his backbone.
Those in control of work at height have a responsibility to properly plan and supervise the work to ensure suitable equipment is selected.
