June 2005
Be Prepared For 2005 Health And Safety Law Changes
2005 sees some major changes in health and safety law which will affect all businesses across the UK. Statutory health and safety protection, in the form of Acts and Regulations, is constantly being updated, resulting in new and amended legislation. Three of the major changes are detailed in this article along with some planned changes for the future.
Work at Height Regulations 2005
Consolidating previous legislation on working at height, the new regulations came into force on 6 th April 2005. These regulations apply to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause injury, placing duty on the employers, the self-employed and any person that controls the work of others.
As part of the Regulations, duty holders must ensure:
- all work at height is properly planned and organised;
- those involved in work at height are competent;
- the risks from work at height are assessed and appropriate work equipment is selected and used;
- the risks from fragile surfaces are properly controlled; and
- equipment for work at height is properly inspected and maintained.
Falls from height remain the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the biggest causes of major injury.
COSHH (Amendment) Regulations 2004
Also from April 2005, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (Amendment) Regulations 2004 comes into force. The changes being a new focus on good practice by the introduction of eight principles helping employers prevent their employee's health being harmed by chemicals in the workplace. The new system clarifies existing duties and amendments include:
- the introduction of a single new "workplace exposure limit" (WEL), replacing the previous two-tier system.
- For particularly hazardous substances, such as carcinogens, in addition to having a WEL, exposure must be reduced to, "as low as reasonably practicable"
- Introduction of new requirements to observe principles of "good practice", in the control of exposure to substances hazardous to health to make sure WELs are not exceeded
Employers who currently comply with COSHH will still be able to do so by continuing to apply good practice.
New Fire Safety Law
As part of the Government’s commitment to reduce death, injury and damage caused by fire, they have announced that the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO) will come into force in April 2006.
The changes will consolidate existing fire safety law which is currently scattered across more than 70 pieces of legislation, to make it easier to understand and to comply with. The order will repeal the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and amend or remove wherever possible the many other provisions dealing with fire safety in other legislation.
Under the new law, greater emphasis will be placed on fire prevention and fire certificates will be abolished, ceasing their legal status. The "responsible" person for each non-domestic premises will be required to carry out a risk assessment of fire and take steps to reduce or remove risk. Such an assessment will need to undergo regular review and take into account not only your own premises but the effects of fire on anyone around you.
Coming Soon…
Changes to the Control of Noise at Work Regulations are due to come into force on 15 February 2006, which will include adjusted noise exposure action levels.
The Scottish Executive is proposing a workplace smoking ban for Spring 2006.
Tougher controls on exposure to hand-arm and whole body vibration at work will come into force 6 July 2005, with exposure limit values being phased in between 2007 and 2014.
And Finally…
Beginning this year, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will only implement changes to occupational health and safety law and practice from within the UK on two dates each year. The two "common commencement dates" are:
- 6 th April
- 1 st October
It is hoped that those affected by occupational health and safety law will become more aware of forthcoming changes and better able to plan and implement new measures effectively.
If you require any additional advice on health and safety law, require risk assessments or would like to implement a health and safety management on site, please contact Aneeta Patel at Pro Enviro.
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