Health and safety regulations

Health and safety regulations of 1974 Act state that all employers have a responsibility to ensure health and safety requirements of their employees. All companies regardless of their size must have a written safety policy ensuring implementation of Health and Safety Act and indulge themselves in carrying out the risk assessment on all their activities.

Risk Assessment included:

· Noise Assessments under Noise at Work Regulations.
· Control of Substances harmful to health and safety regulations.
· Display Screen Equipment Regulations.
· Workplace Welfare and health safety requirements.
· Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations.
· Manual Handling Regulations.

It is further stated that failing to implement the regulations is a preventable risk and could lead to prosecution or the closure of your business. The inability to implement adequate health and safety regulations in the workplace usually leads to accidents and fire. Completing and conforming to a Fire Risk Assessment from Firesmart will stop these from occurring.

The health and safety regulations put forward by Health and safety at Work Act 1974 was the most important piece of legislation, which involved general structure of the administration and control of safety at work.

The implications of health and safety regulations were:

· To place duties and obligations on the employee as well as the employer,
· To establish the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), the policy making body ensuring   implementation of health and safety standards.
· To establish the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the enforcing body ensuring that health and safety   Act is implemented in the workplace.
· To give accident prevention powers to the HSE inspectors through Improvement and Prohibition Notices.
· The object of the Act was to bring all previous legislation into a single unified system of Regulations and Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs) approved by the HSC and the Secretary of State before issue.

These health and safety regulations apply to all types of industries and work areas. These regulations further emphasise that wherever possible risks should be reduced by control measures other than by the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

The health and safety regulations also state that if your company has five or more employees, the important risks identified by the risk assessments must be written down and communicated to your employees. These risk assessments as stated under 1974 Act must include all your company's activities and at least include the use of visual display units (VDUs) and manual handling.

The employer must consult his employees on matters concerning their health, safety and welfare. If there is a risk of damage to the hearing of your staff, one must carry out a noise survey following the health and safety regulations.

Everybody knows that a safe work force is a happy workforce. Safety just makes sense, and will save your company money, which can otherwise be used for better purposes.

Health & SafetySmart provides you with a very cost effective management system tailored to meet the needs of your company. We also impart training as part of the package to ensure that your staff know the law, and how to take part in making your company a safe place to work consistently following all health and safety regulations.

• Health and safety at work
  Health and Safety at work law imposes a responsibility on the employer to ensure safety at the workplace for all employees.
  
  
• Health and safety audit
  Health and Safety Audit undertaken by a company helps it to identify, monitor and reduce any potential risks associated with unsuitable equipment and procedures.
  
  
• Health and safety legislation
  Health and safety legislation is aimed at safety in the workplace including consumer safety in the service area.
  
  
• Health and safety regulations
  Health and safety regulations, failure to comply with these regulations could lead to prosecution or the closure of your business.
  
  
• Health and safety information
  Health and safety information is a mandatory aspect of legislation which requires employees to ensure health and safety in the workplace.
  
  
• Accident reporting
  Accident reporting is mandatory under the RIDDOR act 1995 for most companies this is a rare act but knowing the law and following it, pays.
  
  
• COSHH - Control of substances hazardous to health
  COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health and is about gathering information on all products.
  
  
• RIDDOR
  RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995.