Health and safety in the workplace

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) requires certain work-related injuries, diseases, and incidents to be reported to the enforcing authority for health and safety (this may be Gwynedd Council or the Health and Safety Executive).

Who should report?

Only ‘responsible persons’ including employers, self-employed and people in control of work premises should submit reports under RIDDOR.  If you are an employee or a member of the public wishing to report an incident, please refer to our Health and safety concerns and complaints page

What needs to be reported?

• Death or specified injuries (see: Specified injuries to workers - RIDDOR - HSE )  to an employee or a self-employed person working on your premises.
• Death or hospitalisation of a member of the public following the accident.

These must be reported without delay (usually by telephone) and followed up with an online report form within 10 days.

• Disease suffered by an employee that is related to work activities
• Dangerous Occurrence that does not result in a reportable injury, but which clearly could have done.

These must be reported within 10 days.

• Over seven-day injury to an employee or a self-employed person working on your premises resulting in them being unable to perform their normal work duties, for more than seven consecutive days as the result of their injury.

This must be reported within 15 days.

You can report to the incident:

• Phone (reporting fatal/specified incidents only): 0345 300 9923 (opening hours Monday to Friday 8.30 am to 5 pm)
• Online: How to make a RIDDOR report - RIDDOR - HSE

The enforcement of health and safety legislation is split between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities. In general, HSE covers factories, building sites, mines and quarries, farms, fairgrounds, railways, chemical plant, and offshore and nuclear installations.

Local authorities cover:

• Retail premises
• Warehouses
• Transport undertakings
• Hotels
• Residential care homes
• Leisure complexes
• Personal services (e.g., body piercing)
• Offices
• Safety of sports grounds.

Further guidance on HSE & LA responsibilities are available here -  Appendix 1: Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998: A-Z guide to allocation (hse.gov.uk)

Local authorities use a number of intervention approaches to regulate and influence businesses in the management of health and safety risks including:

• provision of advice and guidance to individual businesses or groups
• reactive interventions e.g., to investigate an accident or complaint
• proactive interventions including inspections 

Proactive inspections are programmed annually based on the HSE’s national priorities. In conjunction with inspections of workplaces we carry out ‘initiative work’ based around the HSE and other local priorities.  

Should you wish to report an incident, have any concerns about health and safety in a particular premise or are concerned about conditions/working practices please email- bwydaiechyd&diogelwch@gwynedd.llyw.cymru

Larger industrial premises such as factories are inspected by the Health and Safety Executive as are activities such as demolition and building work.  Report concerns regarding health and safety at these premises to the HSE

By law, if you employ five or more people you must have a written health and safety policy. The policy should consist of three parts: A general statement which must be made available for staff, the organisation for carrying it out and the arrangements for ensuring health and safety at the workplace.  A template health and safety policy is available at:   

Prepare a health and safety policy - HSE

Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974

You must carry out a risk assessment to identify the risks that could arise from any work activity and ensure preventative measures are in place to manage or eliminate the risks. The type of risks you should consider include - slips and trips in the workplace, manual handling, work at height, and any other risks associated with the particular jobs staff do. The assessment must also consider risks to others, such as members of the public and contractors. If you have less than five employees in your business, you do not need to document your findings however you still need to decide whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent the risks. Further information can be found at the HSE website  

Managing risks and risk assessment at work – Overview -HSE

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

Employers are subject to responsibilities in relation to young people and new and expectant mothers. A young person is described as anyone under 18 years of age. A suitable and sufficient assessment must be carried out in relation to their Health & Safety. If you employ children of school age you are legally obliged under the provisions of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963 to obtain a work permit from the education department of Gwynedd Council. Further information can be found at the HSE website:

Young People - HSE                                             

Expectant Mothers- HSE

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

The law requires employers to control substances that are hazardous to health. These substances include chemicals, products containing chemicals, fumes, gases, vapours, mist, and biological agents (germs). You must assess what you do that involves hazardous substances, how these can cause harm and what you can do to reduce the risk of harm occurring. Adequate controls are considered to have been established where the risk of harm is ‘as low as is reasonably practicable’. If you have less than five employees, you do not need to document your findings. However, you still need to decide whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent the risks. Further information regarding COSHH can be found at:

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

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999

A record of all accidents must be kept at the premises or at the usual place of business of the responsible person. To comply with data protection legislation the accident book that you keep must not allow individuals recording an accident to access details of previous records. An accident book can be obtained from many bookshops or direct from HSE books. If you are in control of the premises, you must report any work-related deaths, certain injuries to employees, members of the public and self-employed people on your premises, and dangerous occurrences (some near miss incidents) that occur on your premises. Details on how to report accidents can be found at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/

As a minimum, a low-risk workplace should have a first aid box and a person appointed to take charge of first-aid arrangements, such as calling the emergency services. Further information can be found at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/

Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995

The Health and Safety (First Aid Regulations) 1981

You must ensure that adequate welfare facilities are provided for people at work including disabled people. This means the provision of facilities that are necessary for the well-being of employees, such as washing, toilet/s, rest and changing facilities and somewhere clean to eat and drink during breaks.

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992

You should display a Health & Safety information poster for your employees. A poster is available for this purpose from bookshops or from the HSE at:

Health and safety law poster - HSE

Health and Safety (Information for Employees) Regulations 1989.

You must ensure that any gas appliance, installation pipe work or flue installed at any place of work under your control is maintained in a safe condition to prevent risk of injury to any person. Effective routine maintenance normally involves an ongoing programme of regular/periodic examinations and remedial actions, as necessary. You should refer to the manufacturer’s instructions for servicing requirements. In general, large, fixed appliances e.g., boilers and gas cookers, need a service every 12 months. Gas Safe Register maintain the register of businesses and operatives who are competent to undertake both piped natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) work in Great Britain. Installation and work on gas appliances should only be carried out by someone who is Gas Safe registered and competent in that area of gas work. If you smell gas, you should telephone 0800 111 999. Further information regarding gas and finding an engineer is available at:

http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

You must control the risks from your use of electricity at work. The law requires employers to ensure electrical equipment is maintained to prevent danger. The frequency and extent of this examination should be determined by a suitably qualified electrician. The results of these routine examinations should be recorded. It is advised that fixed electrical installations be checked by a competent person at a maximum of 5-year intervals. Further information regarding portable appliance testing (PAT) and electrical safety is available at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/

People working on electrical equipment, machinery or installations must be competent to do so. Further information regarding electricity and finding a registered electrician is available at:

http://www.niceic.com/

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989

The law requires that you provide whatever information, instruction and training that is needed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the Health & Safety of your employees. You must make sure that you are up to date with how to identify the hazards and control the risk from your work. Health & Safety training is particularly important when people start work, on exposure to new or increased risks and where existing skills may have become rusty or need updating. Health & Safety training should take place during working hours, and it must not be paid for by employees. You must consider whether the law requires specific training (e.g. first aid training) which may need external trainers or whether the training can be carried out in house. You must make sure that you meet the training needs of all your workforce, including migrant workers who might not have good English.

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

If your business has employees, you will probably need employers’ liability insurance. By law, employers are required to insure against liability for injury or disease to their employees arising out of their employment – it is compulsory insurance and must be for at least £5 million. Further information is available at:

Get insurance for your business - HSE 

If your insurer believes that you have failed to meet your legal responsibilities for the Health & Safety of your employees and that this has led to a claim, the policy may enable the insurer to sue you to reclaim the cost of the compensation. You must display a copy of the certificate of insurance where your employees can easily read it.

Employers’ Liability (Compulsory) Act 1969

You have a duty to manage asbestos in the workplace. The duty holder is the person or organisation that has clear responsibility for the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises through an agreement such as a tenancy agreement or contract. You must take reasonable steps to find out if there is any asbestos in your premises, and if so, its amount, where it is and what condition it is in. A record of the location and condition of the asbestos containing materials must be made and kept up to date. You must prepare a plan of how the asbestos will be managed, which must be put into action and periodically reviewed. You must provide information on the location and conditions of the materials to anyone who is liable to work on or disturb them. Further information about asbestos is available at:

HSE: Asbestos - health and safety in the workplace

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

You have a duty to manage workplace transport at your premises. Vehicles at work continue to be a major cause of fatal and major injuries. Every year there are over 5000 incidents involving transport in the workplace. About 50 of these result in people being killed. To manage the risks from workplace transport effectively, you need to consider three key areas: Safe Site, Safe Vehicle, Safe Driver. You need to assess the risks from workplace transport, identify adequate control measures, implement these measures, and monitor their effectiveness. The HSE has produced guidance on workplace transport to help you decide what you need to do:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/

Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply to all work at height where there is risk of a fall liable to cause personal injury. They place duties on employers, and those who control any work at height activity (such as facilities managers or building owners who may contract others to work at height). You must ensure that 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. You must also ensure that the risks of working on or near fragile surfaces are properly managed and that the equipment used is properly inspected and maintained. Further information can be found at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height

Work at Height Regulations 2005

The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) places duties on people and companies who own, operate, or have control over lifting equipment, such as lifts, dumb waiters, forklift trucks, hoists etc. All lifting operations involving lifting equipment must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised, and carried out in a safe manner. The Regulations also require that all equipment used for lifting is fit for purpose, appropriate for the task, suitably marked and in many cases subject to statutory periodic thorough examination. Records must be kept of all thorough examinations and any defects found must be reported to both the person responsible for the equipment and the relevant enforcing authority. Further guidance can be found at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/index.htm

Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) places duties on people and companies who own, operate, or have control over work equipment. You must ensure that equipment provided for use at work is suitable for the intended use, safe for use, maintained in a safe condition and inspected to ensure it is correctly installed and does not subsequently deteriorate. Work equipment must only be used by people who have received adequate information, instruction and training and equipment must be accompanied by suitable health and safety measures. You must also consider what Personal Protective Equipment, if any, is needed. Further information regarding work equipment can be found at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/puwer.htm.

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 

The occupier of a premises which is open to the public is legally obliged to display bilingual signs within the premises to inform patrons that smoking is not permitted. Templates are available on the Welsh Government website.

The Smoke –free Premises etc. (Wales) Regulations 2007

If you are an employer, or someone in control of premises, you must understand the health risks associated with legionella.

The Approved Code of Practice: Legionnaires’ disease: The control of Legionella bacteria in water systems (L8) contains practical guidance on how to manage and control the risks in your system.  See:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l8.htm

You are responsible for health and safety and need to take the right precautions to reduce the risks of exposure to legionella. You must understand how to:

• identify and assess sources of risk
• prevent or control any risks
• keep and maintain the correct records
• carry out any other relevant duties you may have

You will also need to consider technical and further information on the following risk systems: Evaporative Cooling Systems, Hot and Cold Water Systems and Spa Pools. Further information and guidance can be found at:

www.hse.gov.uk/legionnaires/what-you-must-do.htm

Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002

Employers have a legal duty to protect workers from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it. The HSE has produced example stress risk assessments which may help:

Work-related stress and how to manage it - HSE

Contact dermatitis is a type of eczema triggered by contact with a particular substance. It can be caused by:

• an irritant – a substance that directly damages the outer layer of skin
• an allergen – a substance that causes the immune system to respond in a way that affects the skin

Contact dermatitis is most commonly caused by irritants such as soaps and detergents, solvents, or regular contact with water.

Employers must assess the risks of employees developing contact-related dermatitis. Where there is a risk, you must provide adequate control measures, information, instruction, and training.

Work-related contact dermatitis - (hse.gov.uk)

The Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010 requires businesses to ensure that no person under the age of 18 years:

• uses a sunbed;
• is offered the use of a sunbed, or
• is present in a restricted zone

Failure to comply with the Act is a criminal offence and a penalty of up to £20,000 may be applied.

Further information on sunbeds and the legislation