Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
It has been suggested that the duty breaks down into three basic parts, namely, (1)
that the employer is required to provide and maintain suitable materials (i.e. plant,
machinery and equipment); (2) to keep his premises safe and devise and operate a
safe system of working; and (3) to exercise care in the selection of competent fellow
employees.
20.3 Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
20.3.1 General
The current starting point in relation to health and safety legislation is the Health and
Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This creates duties which are incumbent on employers
(in the employer/employee sense as opposed to the construction sense), employees,
persons in control of premises and designers and manufacturers of articles and sub-
stances.hesectionsimposingthesedutiesareconsideredbelow,alongwithanumber
of the other significant provisions of the 1974 Act.
It has been observed that the general duties under the 1974 Act are deliberately
similar to the duties of care giving rise to civil liability at common law. The general
duties are to be found in sections 2-7 of the 1974 Act.
20.3.2 Section 2
The principal duties incumbent upon employers, insofar as their own employees are
concerned, are contained within section 2 of the 1974 Act, namely:
•
to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety and welfare of
their employees (see s.2(1));
•
to ensure the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that are, so
far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health (see s.2(2)(a));
•
to provide safe systems for the use, storage and transport of articles and substances,
so far as is reasonably practicable (see s.2(2)(b));
•
toprovidesuchinformation,instruction,trainingandsupervisionasisnecessaryto
ensure the health and safety at work of employees, so far as is reasonably practicable
(see s.2(2)(c));
•
to maintain a safe place of work and provide safe access to and egress from that
place of work, so far as is reasonably practicable (see s.2(2)(d));
•
to provide and maintain a working environment that is, so far as is reasonably prac-
ticable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrange-
ments for employees' welfare at work (see s.2(2)(e)); and
•
to prepare and, as often as may be appropriate, revise a written statement of their
general policy with respect to the health and safety at work of their employees and
the organization and the arrangements for implementing it (see s.2(3)).
