A new version of the Management of Health and Safety at Work (MHSW) Regulations came into force in December 1999. In conjunction with the Health and Safety at Work Act, the MHSW Regulations specify the core duties of employers and employees on occupational health and safety. The amended Regulations supersede and extend previous versions and incorporate other legislation. The Regulations are published with an Approved Code of Conduct (ACOP) which has special legal status (courts will take account of adherence to the ACOP in prosecutions for breaches of health and safety law) and with Guidance (adherence to Guidance is not compulsory). This factsheet lists the significant changes in the amended Regulations.

With some exceptions, the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 are subsumed into the MHSW Regulations. In most cases fire safety will now be enforced by the health and safety authorities rather than the fire services. How this transition will be handled is not clear.

There are numerous references to the role of safety representatives and other employee representatives in the ACOP and Guidance with stronger indications that consultation with such representatives is required.

All workers are covered by the Regulations, including mobile and home workers, excepting seafarers and young people performing temporary or short-term work in family businesses or domestic service (Regulation 2).

The requirements for general risk assessments are maintained and it is made clear that where a review of a risk assessment shows that changes are required, these changes must be carried out (Regulation 3). The ACOP defines the nature and purpose of risk assessments in greater detail than previously. It provides a clearer indication of what constitutes a suitable and sufficient assessment. Risk assessments should identify the period of time for which they will remain valid. They should take account of the views of employees and safety representatives. They should

1. identify the hazards
,
2. identify who might be harmed and how,
3. evaluate the risks from the identified hazards,
4. record the significant findings in a retrievable form, and
5. provide for review and revision.

Regulation 4 provides a Schedule on the principles of preventive and protective measures. This replaces similar material in the ACOP of previous versions of the Regulations. The principles are:

• avoid risks
• evaluate risks which cannot be avoided
• combat risks at source
• adapt work to the individual, especially as regards the design of workplaces, the choice of work equipment and the choice of working and production methods, with a view, in particular, to alleviating monotonous work and work at a pre-determined work-rate and to reducing their effect on health
• adapt to technical progress
• replace the dangerous by the non-dangerous or the less dangerous
• developing a coherent overall prevention policy which covers technology, organisation of work, working conditions, social relationships and the influence of factors relating to the working environment
• give collective protective measures priority over individual protective measures
• give appropriate instructions to employees.

This list does not constitute a hierarchy; employers may choose from the menu as they deem appropriate.

The ACOP gives advice on the planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of health and safety arrangements by employers. They are encouraged to take into account the views of employees and safety representatives (Regulation 5).

In selecting competent persons for the performance of health and safety tasks (those with sufficient knowledge, training and expertise of relevant health and safety factors) employers should give preference to people in their employment over competent persons not in their employment, such as consultants (Regulation 7). External specialists can be used if required or a combination of internal and external personnel may be appropriate (ACOP, Regulation 7). Mistakes by competent persons do not free employers from liability for breaches of statutory duty (Regulation 21).

Employers must maintain contact with external services particularly as regards first aid, emergency medical care and rescue work (Regulation 9). The ACOP requires employers to establish written procedures for workers to follow when faced with serious and imminent danger and which acknowledge that situations arise when workers must act on their own initiative in proceeding to safety. Employers should explain clearly when workers should stop work and move to a place of safety.

An employer who employs a child below school-leaving age must inform the parent or guardian of the child of the risks and the safety requirements derived from the risk assessment (Regulation 10).

Host employers must ensure that people working on their premises who are self-employed or who work for other employees receive relevant safety information. This can be done by providing them with information directly or providing it to their employers, in which case the host employer must check that the information is passed on (ACOP, Regulation 12).

Managers should be aware of relevant legislation and should be competent to manage health and safety effectively (ACOP, Regulation 13). All employees, including senior management, should receive relevant training (Guidance, Regulation 13).

Employers must carry out an assessment of the risks to new and expectant mothers and to their babies. When necessary on health and safety grounds, employers may change the working conditions or hours of work of new and expectant mothers. Employers may suspend on full pay new and expectant mothers from work if their safety cannot be protected in other ways (Regulation 16). Employers may suspend on full pay new and expectant mothers who work at nights upon the production of a medical certificate (Regulation 17). An employer need not take any action until an employee notifies them that she is pregnant, has given birth within the previous six months, or is breast feeding (Regulation 18).

Employers need to identify suitable alternative work that is available and offer it to new and expectant mothers rather than suspend them if preventive and protective measures are insufficient. Notification of an employer of pregnancy for the purpose of any statutory requirement, such as statutory maternity pay, constitutes sufficient notice under the MHSW Regulations. The employer must introduce appropriate safety measure immediately on notification. The employer can request confirmation of the pregnancy by means of a medical certificate and can discontinue safety measures if this is not produced within a reasonable time (ACOP, Regulations 16-18).

The duty of employers to perform risk assessments is extended specifically to cover young workers (Regulation 3). This must take account of their lack of experience, the absence of awareness of existing or potential risks, or the fact that they have not yet fully matured. Employers may not employ young people for some types of work unless it is necessary for training, there is competent supervision and the risk is reduced to the lowest level reasonably practicable (Regulation 19). Risk assessments need to be carried out before young people begin work (ACOP, Regulation 19).

Resources

Management of Health and Safety at Work: Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Approved Code of Practice and Guidance. ISBN 0-7176-2488-9, £8.00 from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 2WA; tel 01787 881165; fax 01787 313995

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