Health and Safety

Health and safety in the workplace is an area that has some of the strongest rules that embody workers' rights in law although this is matched by employees' responsibilities to themselves and colleagues. In as much as companies have a responsibility to provide a safe working environment for workers and members of the public, it is for workers to maintain that safe working environment too. And with the seemingly unstoppable march toward a US-style compensation culture in the United Kingdom, keeping to the rules has become more important than ever.

Employers Obligations

Companies are responsible for the provision of training to ensure safe working practices, securing hazardous materials and supplies and informing the workforce about the hazards that they may encounter. Of course, some work has dangers to health but all firms must take steps to minimise those and inform workers about the ones that remain. For example, if a job involves handling a drill, there's no way that the hazard can be completely removed without making the job impossible. So the employer must make sure that safety guards and signage are in place, train employees on the correct working procedures, provide safety clothing, and keep drills properly maintained.

Firms must also record any incidents that occur in the workplace for potential later examination by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and there are some types of incident that must be reported immediately to the HSE or local authority. There is also a raft of regulations concerning the working environment, such as the provision of lighting, fire escapes heat an ventilation, observation of rest periods and facility for staff to wash and so on. It’s the employer's responsibility to monitor the premises with regard to these aspects, keep up with changes in the regulations and make any necessary improvements.

Employee's Rights

Workers have the right to have all of the employer's obligations met, of course. Companies should carry out regular risk assessments to ensure that health and safety regulations are in place and being complied with. If there is evidence that this is not happening, then workers can raise the issue with the trained health and safety representative that all companies must appoint. Employers who have reasonable concerns about their safety are entitled to stop working and leave the work area without fear of being disciplined, and have the right to inform bosses of any breach of health and safety rules with an expectation that it will be put right as soon as is practically possible.

Employee's Obligations

The employee has responsibilities as well as rights. They must comply with the regulations and use equipment that has been provided to keep them safe, in the way that they have been trained. This might be as simple as keeping hair and jewellery away from machinery, or it might be as complex as handling nuclear waste in such a way that it doesn't jeopardise members of the public.

Workers must also tell their bosses about anything that might prevent them from performing their duties in a safe manner, perhaps an injury, or medication they are taking that has after-effects, for example. It is completely forbidden to tamper with any device or warning information that has been put in place to ensure the safety of a worker, guest, supplier or any other person.

Find Out More

Health and safety rules and regulations are a massive area and the surface can only be skimmed in this article. The government's direct.gov.uk website has guides to it as does the HSE's site at hse.gov.uk, who will also hear any complaint if an employer doesn't appear to be taking a health and safety issue seriously.

It's important to remember that health and safety regulations are heavily protected by law. There's little else that can get an employee summarily dismissed, apart from criminal action, although many campaigners would argue that the HSE and the courts rarely punish employers for health and safety breaches as quickly and decisively as employees are dealt with, nor with an equivalent level of serious punishment.