Guidelines And Procedures For The Work Health And Safety Act

The main features of the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) is that it requires certain health and safety procedures to be maintained in a health and social care setting, for example, the act explains that there must be, safe operation and maintenance of working equipment, plant and system, maintenance of safe access to the workplace, safe use, handling and storage of dangerous/hazardous substances, training of staff to ensure that there is health and safety, to provide welfare for staff at work.

The Act was put in place to help reduce deaths and serious injury in the workplace, it sets out the Health and Safety duties and responsibilities ‘as reasonably practicable’ for a company, employers, employees and anyone else affected by the activities carried out by the company. Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs) are guidance with specific legal standing and employers who have been prosecuted due to failure to comply with Health and Safety law are likely to have not followed the ACOP. The Act also

Answer – The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is the main piece of the health and safety legislation in Great Britain. It provides the legal framework to promote and encourage high standards in the workplace.

Legislations/codes of practice relating to general health and safety in a health or social care work setting are: The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974; Riddor 1995, COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health); Manual Handling operations regulations 1992; Health And Safety (First aid regulations 1981); Fire protection (Workplace) Regulations 1997; Food Safety Act 1990; Personal Protective Equipment and Management of Health and safety at work regulations 1999.

The Health and Safety at Work Act was put in place in 1974. This primary legislation covers occupational health and safety ensuring employees and employers are safe within their working environment.

Employers must provide a safe working environment for all of their employees. The legislation states it is an employer’s duty "to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work" of all their employees as well as others on their premises, including temps, casual workers, the self-employed, clients, visitors and the general public.Workers health is paramount within an organisation, employers must ensure that all workers health is not affected by the work they are doing and put in place all necessities to prevent this. The Health and Safety at Work Act sets out specific standards which can add costs to a business, however these costs are considered essential for the safety of all workers. Most of the costs come from training staff about health and safety and putting in place procedures to maintain this. This act prevents unfair unsafe working conditions which in turn reduces the likelihood of accidents or injury at work. If a worker has injured themselves at work due to something which could have been otherwise prevented by the company had the followed the guidelines of the Health and Safety at Work Act they company may be required to pay out for the injury. For those who employ five or more staff, employers must also keep and revise a written record of health and safety policy and consult

Section 2 of the HSW Act deals with employersʹ duties, and states: ʺIt shall be the duty of all employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health safety and welfare of all their employees whilst they are at work.ʺ

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 covers many health and safety legislations in England and Wales. These include, RIDDOR, COSHH, First Aid, Fire Regulations etc. All of these legislations need to be understood and adhered to when planning any activities.

As an employer, you need to be aware of the processes and duties produced in these regulations and the practical implications imposed. There is also a duty to involve employees in all health and safety

The framework which we work to within the home for health, safety and risk management are based around the Health and Safety at work act 1974. Within this act it states that we need to follow the health and safety policies which as a company we have and also risk assessments. The HSE states that there are several things we must follow, this includes:

There are many legislation acts relating to health and safety. These include :- • Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 • Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulation (COSHH) • Manual Handling legislation 1992 • Reporting of injuries, dies eases and dangerous occurrences regulations (RIDDOR) • Food Safety Act 1990 • Health and Safety First Aid Regulations 1981 1.2 The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states the employer, employees and service users have a responsibility to ensure safety is well maintained in your place of work. Policies and procedures protect people by providing a set of rules and regulations that must be followed by care staff and organisations.

1.2 The main points of the policies and procedures are to ensure everyone follows the same guidelines, is safe and to minimise the chance of accidents.

In 1974, the Health and Safety at Work Act, also referred to as HSWA, was put in place to make further terms for securing the health, safety and welfare of a person within a working environment, making it the prime piece of legislation to cover the occupational health and safety in Great Britain. Everybody within a workforce has the duty to obey the act in order to promote, stimulate and encourage high standards of health and safety so that themselves, their employees, their fellow peers and the members of the public feel safe. Employees must be provided with the appropriate clothing and equipment for their own safety and protection. Additionally, all machinery that is used, if needed, should be of high standards and regularly checked to make sure that it is still suitable for use.

* Make sure their electrical equipment is constructed in a way that prevents danger, and making sure all the equipment is tested properly.

An approved code of practice is a practical guide to achieving the standards of health, safety and welfare required under the WHS Act and the Work Health and Safety Regulations (the WHS Regulations). A code of practice applies to anyone who has a duty of care in the circumstances described in the code. In most cases, following an approved code of practice would achieve compliance with the health and safety duties in the WHS Act, in relation to the subject matter of the code. Like regulations, codes of practice deal with particular issues and do not cover all hazards or risks that may arise. The health and safety duties require duty holders to consider all risks associated with work, not only those for which regulations and codes of practice exist. Codes of practice are admissible in court proceedings under the WHS Act and Regulations. Courts may regard a code of practice as evidence of what is known about a hazard, risk or control and may rely on the code in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances to which the code relates. Compliance with the WHS Act and Regulations may be achieved by following another method, such as a technical or an industry standard, if it provides an equivalent or higher standard of work health and safety than the code. An