Health and Safety Executive

Health and Safety Executive

Breakout Session B7

‘Elf &Safety’

the facts, not the fiction.

• Who or what is HSE

• HSE & Voluntary Sector

Who or what is HSE?

Kids must wear goggle to play conkers

Who or what is HSE?

• Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the national independent watchdog for work-related health, safety and illness.

• We are an independent regulator and act in the public interest to reduce work-related death and serious injury across Great Britain’s workplaces.

• HSE’s emphasis is on prevention, during a visit we check the standards of health, safety and welfare in your business and give you advice on how to prevent people being made ill or injured at work.

Myth: HSE has banned stepladders

Risk management is NOT about

• Creating a totally risk free society

• Generating useless paperwork mountains

• Scaring people by exaggerating or publicising trivial risks

• Stopping important activities

• Reducing protection of people from risks that cause real harm and suffering

So what do we advocate?

• Sensible health and safety management

Sensible risk management IS about

• Ensuring that workers and the public are properly protected

• Benefiting society

• Enabling innovation and learning

• Those who create the risks being required to manage them responsibly

• Exercising responsibility

Health and Safety Legislation

• Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974

• Management of health and safety at work regulations 1998

WHO else enforces health & safety?

• LOCAL AUTHORITIES– Environmental Health

• SAME LEGISLATION

• SAME POWERS

HSE enforces in…

• Construction

• Agriculture

• Factories

• Quarries

• Utilities

• National/local government

• Police/hospitals/ education

• Nuclear installations

• Offshore industries

• Onshore major hazards

Local authorities enforce in…

• Most offices

• Retail businesses

• Wholesale businesses

• Leisure industries

• Catering

• Hotels

• Residential accommodation

• Etc…

HSE and the voluntary sector

Managing low risk - what do voluntary organisations need to do?

• If your voluntary organisation is an employer

• If your voluntary organisation has responsibility for non-domestic premises (eg a village or community hall)

Risk assessment is too complicated for me to do!

• Carrying out a risk assessment should be straightforward. It's about focusing on real risks and hazards that cause real harm and, more importantly, taking action to control them.

Risk Assessment

• Low risk activities

• Higher hazard activities

How do civil law and health and safety law apply

• Understanding which type of law applies

• Civil law and the duty of care

How to contact HSE

• Complaints and Advisory Team on 0300 0031647 in office hours.

• Search on HSE

• www.hse.gov.uk

THANK YOU

DIOLCH YN FAWR