The foundation: the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
The Act puts a general duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees. It also covers the safety of other people affected by your work, such as the public, clients and other trades. Self-employed people have duties too. If you employ five or more people, you must have a written health and safety policy.
Risk assessment: the five steps
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess the risks. HSE sets out five steps that work for any business.
- Identify the hazards: what could cause harm in the work, the tools, the materials and the site.
- Decide who might be harmed and how: your team, the public, other trades, and the likelihood and severity.
- Control the risks: remove them or reduce them as far as is reasonably practicable.
- Record your findings: HSE says this is a requirement if you employ five or more people.
- Review: check the controls work, and revisit the assessment when something changes or after an accident or near miss.
A RAMS is how most contractors put those steps on paper for a specific job.
Construction: the CDM Regulations 2015
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 apply to almost all construction work, including domestic jobs. They allocate duties to the people who influence how a project is run.
- Clients make suitable arrangements for managing the project.
- Designers and the principal designer eliminate or reduce risks in the design and coordinate pre-construction health and safety, where there is more than one contractor.
- The principal contractor plans, manages and coordinates the construction phase, prepares the construction phase plan, and makes sure there are inductions, site security and welfare.
- Contractors plan, manage and monitor their own work, and cooperate with others on site.
- Workers must look after their own and others’ health and safety and report anything unsafe.
On domestic projects, the client’s duties usually pass to the contractor or principal contractor, so if you work for householders you will often carry those duties.
Other regulations that come up on site
- Work at Height Regulations 2005 for ladders, scaffolds, roofs, fragile surfaces and edges.
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) for dust, fumes, solvents, cement and other substances.
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) for tools, plant and lifting.
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 for lifting and carrying.
- Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 and Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005.
- Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 for any work on older buildings.
- Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.
- RIDDOR 2013 for reporting certain accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences to HSE.
Competence, consultation and welfare
Three areas catch out small firms. Competence: people must have the training and experience for the task. Consultation: talk to your workers about health and safety, because they often know where the real risks are. Welfare: toilets, washing facilities, drinking water and somewhere to rest and eat must be provided, and on larger sites the principal contractor arranges these.
What to do next
- Write a short health and safety policy if you have five or more employees, and review it yearly.
- Make sure every job has a written, site-specific RAMS, checked by a competent person.
- Brief your team and keep signed records.
- Keep training and certificates up to date.
- Know how and when to report under RIDDOR, and keep an accident book.
The HSE website has free, practical guidance for every topic above. If you are unsure whether a regulation applies to you, ask HSE or take advice from a qualified health and safety adviser.