To laws associated, the health and safety executive(hse)

To enforce health and safety and regulate the laws associated, the Health and safety executive(HSE) was set up. The Health and safety executive is a non-departmental public body which means it acts independent to the government however ministers are responsible to parliament for its activities.

The HSE is also sponsored by the government so it is a well-funded organisation. HSE with the aid of the government implemented laws that requires employers to assess the risks in their workplace and take measures to counter them. The most important law introduced was the management of health and safety at work regulations act as it give aids employers in creating a safer workplace. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (the Management Regulations) generally make more explicit what employers are required to do to manage health and safety under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Health and safety executive.

(2002). Health and safety regulation…a short guide. Page 1. Available at http://www. hse.

gov. uk/pubns/hsc13. pdf. From this act it is said that the most important thing for an employer to do is carry out a risk assessment. To prevent death, serious injury and ill health employers need to identify causes and decide how to take steps in preventing them. This is called a risk assessment.

Risks need different actions to tackle them and a risk assessment can identify both the risks and the control methods.    Carrying out a risk assessment takes 5 steps: 1.   Identify hazards2.   Identify who may be harmed3.   Take precautionary actions4.   Record findings5.   Review the risk assessment When identifying hazards for a risk assessment more than physical risks must be considered. Mental risks such as tiredness and an excess workload can in some cases be more dangerous than physical risk.

Other forms of risk can be biological for example diseases in hospitals or working with food, or chemical, such as asbestos or cleaning fluids. Once the risks have been identified, deciding who can be harmed starts with considering who is going to be at risk most often. Employees for example would be at risk the most as they are working in a hazardous area. Then others who are no directly related to the risk must be identified. This would generally include members of the public. Looking at the routines and how work is completed must then be analysed once these people have been identified. This helps to isolate risks and makes it easier to prevent accidents. Acting against risks needs to be done once the risks have been assessed.

This means deciding whether a hazard is high risk or low risk. Precautions can then be put in place for the high-risk hazard first then moving on to the remaining hazards. Precautions against risks need to be practical and effective however although precautions are put in place the risk might not be removed altogether. If a hazard can be removed completely then this is ideal however if not then the precautions must make it as safe as possible.

A record of the risk assessment must be kept once it is completed and should include what the hazards are and the risks that are involved, along with the precautions used to tackle them. The record can then be consulted when necessary and also provides proof of the risk assessment if an accident should occur. The amount of detail depends on the risk of the hazard and the type of work that is to be done. A risk assessment then needs constant review so that a safe working area is maintained and that if any new hazards arise then they will need to go through the same process and decide what precautions need to be taken. The risk assessment is a basic form of trying to make workplaces safer for employees and any person who enters a hazardous area. Without regulations or legalities, it won’t have any effect. If an accident occurs and no risk assessment was completed, then the company will be given a fine and held accountable for the accident.

This along with checks from the HSE means that risk assessments are rarely not completed.