Health & Safety at Work

Cameron Dearden & Sinéad Watt

What is Health & Safety at Work?• Health and Safety protects individuals in the work

place and those who may be affected by work. • The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is the main

piece of legislation regarding occupational health and safety in the UK.

• The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for preventing people from being injured, killed or made ill by work.

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Health & Safety Act 1974• Secure the health, safety and welfare of persons at work, as

well as those who are working in the environment or could be affected by work carried out.

• Control dangerous substances, such as explosives, chemicals and emissions. COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health.)

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Who is Responsible?

• Health and Safety Executive

• Employer

• Employees

• Building Owners

• ManufacturersCameron Dearden & Sinéad Watt

Health and Safety Executive’s Responsibilities

HSE is the national independent watchdog for work-related health, safety and illness.

An independent regulator and act in the public interest to reduce work-related death and serious injury across Great Britain’s workplaces.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/index.htm

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Employers Responsibilities• Provide maintenance and plant systems, also arrangements for

handling/storage/transportation of articles and substances safely.• Training, instructions and relevant information is provided.• The workplace is a safe environment to work in, as well as getting

access to it.

• Ensure the same regulations are applied when other individuals, who

are not employees, use their facilities.

• Self-employed people have the responsibility to abide by thesesame regulations.

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Employees Responsibilities• To take reasonable care for the health and safety of

himself and of other people who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.

• To cooperate with the employer with regards to any Health and Safety legislation that he enforces.

• No person whether employer, employee or general public should interfere with anything that could compromise the health and safety of an individual.

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Building Owners Responsibilities.

• Ensure the absence of risks to health regarding tenants.

• The maintenance or repair to any premises.• Preventing any emissions from the premises

or rendering harmless and inoffensive the substances that may be emitted.

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Manufacturers Responsibilities

• Manufacturers, Designers and Suppliers must ensure that the product is safe to use and tested.

• Provide adequate information regarding the use of their product with information reflecting Health and Safety.

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Risk Assessments

A careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people.

Weighing up whether you have taken enough precautions or you need to implement more to prevent harm.

You are legally required to asses the risks in your workplace and put in place a plan to control or prevent these risks.

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How to Risk Assess in the Workplace• Identify the hazard.• Decide who might be harmed and how.• Evaluate the risk and decide on

precautions.• Record your findings and implement

them.• Review your assessment and update if

necessary.

www.hse.gov.uk/risk/fivesteps

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Repercussions…• If you breach the Health and Safety

regulations, you not only put yourself and others at risk, you could:– Lose your job for gross misconduct– Injury yourself or someone else– Be taken to court and fined/imprisoned– Cause a fatality to yourself or someone else

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...for the business

“The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 is a landmark in law. For the first time, companies and organisations can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter as a result of serious management failures resulting in a gross breach of a duty of care.”

[http://www.hse.gov.uk/corpmanslaughter/]

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HSOA

The Health & Safety Offences Act 2008 (HSOA) came into force in 2009

• Fines of up to £20,000 per breach• An unlimited fine and a custodial sentence of

up to two years’ imprisonment where the accused is an individual rather than a company

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How does H&S affect the way an IT Organisation’s Products and Services

are offered?• Everything needs to be tested and labelled to

ensure the health and safety of the individual that may purchase the product.

• Services are restricted by health and safety as employees need training and disclosures to operate equipment, as well as to ensure the health and safety of the customers.

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For Example…

…in Openreach, we offer products which have to be safe in the event of lightening strikes as this can cause surges in the circuit, posing dangerous to the end user. To ensure this, we have a fuse in each circuit in the exchange.

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…employees working at computers to provide products and services (e.g. online help desk) need to have breaks, for reasons such as their eyesight can be affected by the screens, so the organisation has to provide cover to ensure fluidity in providing these products and services.

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