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UK workplace health and safety: HSE guidance for employers

Official Health and Safety Executive guidance for UK employers: managing for health and safety (HSG65), work-related stress and the Management Standards, display screen equipment, manual handling, first aid, COSHH, work at height and RIDDOR reporting. General workplace-health information for managers and H&S leads, not individual medical advice. Curated by Kopik from public sources: Health and Safety Executive (OGL v3).

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This assistant answers questions about workplace health and safety in Great Britain, using official guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It is designed for employers, managers and health and safety leads who need clear answers on risk management, work-related stress, display screen equipment, hazardous substances, work at height and more. Answers come from HSE publications such as HSG65 and the INDG brief guides, and offer general workplace information, not individual medical advice.

Managing health and safety with Plan, Do, Check, Act

HSE's guide HSG65, Managing for health and safety, explains the Plan, Do, Check, Act approach, which replaced the older POPMAR model. It aims to balance the systems side of management with behaviours and attitudes.

As a minimum, HSG65 says you should have a written health and safety policy and record the significant findings of your risk assessments in writing if you employ five or more people. Assessments should cover employees, contractors, customers and anyone else your activities could affect.

The cycle is not a one-off exercise: you may need to go round it more than once, especially when starting out, developing a new process, product or service, or implementing any change. When measuring performance, HSE recommends looking at leading indicators as well as lagging ones such as accident figures.

Work-related stress and the six Management Standards

HSE defines stress as the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them. Pressure can be motivating; stress occurs when it becomes excessive.

The Management Standards cover six key areas of work design: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. HSE's workbook WBK01 describes them as the primary sources of stress at work, and recommends looking at the job as a whole rather than one element at a time.

You do not have to use the Management Standards approach, but following it shows you have met your legal duties. If you use another method, it must be suitably equivalent. HSE's indicator tool, a 35-question survey for employees, can help identify where problems lie.

Display screen equipment and hazardous substances

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 apply to workers who use computers, laptops or similar devices daily, for continuous periods of an hour or more. For these DSE users, employers must assess workstations, put controls in place, provide training, and provide eye tests on request, paying for a basic pair of glasses if they are needed specifically for screen work.

The COSHH Regulations 2002 cover substances such as dusts, fumes, metalworking fluids and wet working that can cause asthma, dermatitis or lung disease. Where local exhaust ventilation is used to control exposure, it must have a thorough examination and test at least once every 14 months, or more often for certain processes.

For DSE users, simple controls help: keep forearms roughly horizontal with eyes level with the top of the screen, avoid glare, and break up long spells of screen work with changes of activity. HSE notes that short, frequent breaks are better than longer, infrequent ones.

Working at height

Under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, work at height means any place where a person could fall a distance liable to cause injury if no precautions were in place. Falls from ladders and through fragile roofs are common causes of serious accidents.

The steps are to avoid work at height where reasonably practicable, prevent falls using a safe place of work or the right equipment, and minimise the distance and consequences of any fall. Collective protection, such as guard rails, should be considered before personal protection, such as harnesses.

Ladders are not banned: for low-risk tasks of short duration (under 30 minutes), they can be a sensible and practical option.

Questions fréquentes

Do I need a written health and safety policy?

According to HSG65, you need a written health and safety policy if you employ five or more people. The same threshold applies to recording the significant findings of your risk assessments in writing.

Who counts as a DSE user?

A DSE user is a worker who regularly uses display screen equipment as a significant part of their normal work, meaning daily, for continuous periods of an hour or more. The DSE Regulations do not apply to people who use screens infrequently or for short periods, although the same controls can still help them.

Is the Management Standards approach compulsory?

No. HSE states that you do not have to use it, but following it shows you have met your legal duties on work-related stress. If you choose another approach, it must be suitably equivalent, and HSE provides an equivalence checklist to check this.

Does DSE work damage eyesight?

HSE says there is no evidence that DSE work causes permanent damage to eyes or eyesight. Eye tests are provided so users can see the screen comfortably and work without visual fatigue. Eye tests are not an entitlement for the self-employed.

Which materials should I treat as fragile when working on a roof?

HSE lists roof lights, liner panels on built-up sheeted roofs, non-reinforced fibre cement sheets, corroded metal sheets, glass (including wired glass), rotted chipboard, and slates and tiles as likely to be fragile. Falls through fragile roofs and roof lights are among the most common causes of workplace death and serious injury.

How can workers be exposed to hazardous substances?

HSE's COSHH guide lists breathing in gases, fumes, mist or dust, contact with the skin or eyes, swallowing and skin puncture. Swallowing often happens when people eat or smoke without washing their hands first. HSE also warns that natural materials, such as wood dust, flour or henna, can be harmful too.

How do I know if someone is competent to work at height?

HSE says the work should be done by people with sufficient skills, knowledge and experience, or by trainees supervised by someone competent. For low-risk tasks on ladders taking less than 30 minutes, competence may simply mean instruction on using the equipment safely, such as how to tie a ladder. For technical work, like planning a complex scaffold, industry training and certification schemes can help demonstrate competence.

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{
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