Statute
— this is a published Act of Parliament that has become law, for example, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Many statutes are ‘enablers’, which means they contain their own requirements and have the power to raise additional requirements, generally issued as specific regulations.
Statutory instrument — this is subordinate legislation introduced by virtue of some other piece of enabling legislation. This is the way in which regulations are introduced into law.
Approved Code of Practice (ACoP)
This is a specific type of document, with formal legal status which courts may consider when reaching a decision in a case. ACoPs are issued by the Health and Safety Executive (formerly the Health and Safety Commission) with the consent of the Secretary of State. They contain quite detailed information on the best way to manage particular hazards. They give practical advice on how to comply with the law.
If you follow the advice, you will be doing enough to comply with the law in respect of those specific matters on which the Code gives advice. You may use alternative methods to those set out in the Code in order to comply with the law.
Guidance
The HSE is the main source of authoritative guidance on specific hazards. This guidance is available in many forms, both free and priced, aimed at employers and employees, with many leaflets being available as downloads from the HSE website (www.hse.gov.uk).
None of this guidance is mandatory, but it is based on considerable experience that has been gained by the HSE and is a good starting place for managers investigating ways to reduce risks. It is worth checking any piece of guidance to see if it is ‘good practice’ representing what is generally expected by law or ‘best practice’ which may go beyond what is legally required. All HSE guidance includes a status paragraph making this clear.
Guidance (and ACoPs) can be taken into account in the event of a prosecution under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.
‘So far as is reasonably practicable’
This phrase is a fundamental part of UK law and is included in many legal documents. It has successfully overcome an EU challenge. The phrase is often abbreviated to ‘sfarp’ (as, for instance, in the summary sheets in Appendix 4).
The onus of proving whether controls are reasonably practicable rests with the duty holder, not the regulators.
Therefore to meet the test of reasonable practicability a duty holder needs to be able to demonstrate that they have taken action to control the risk to the point where the cost (in time, trouble and money) of instituting further controls is grossly disproportionate to the further reduction in risk. In practice they can do this either by calculating the costs and benefits or by showing that they have followed an ACoP or good practice produced or recognised by HSE.
Management system — a set of rules, procedures and information flows used to achieve results to satisfy the needs, expectations and requirements of interested parties.
Hazard — a source or situation with a potential for harm in terms of injury or ill health, damage to property, damage to the workplace environment or a combination of these.
Risk — a combination of the likelihood and consequence(s) of a specified hazardous event occurring.
Competent — being capable, through an appropriate mixture of knowledge and experience, to complete the task in hand in a safe and effective manner.
Health surveillance — monitoring the health of people to detect signs or symptoms of work-related ill-health so that steps can be taken to eliminate, or reduce, the probability of further damage. See legislation for further information.
Legionella — (specifically Legionella pneumophila) is a bacterium which causes Legionnaires’ disease, a type of pneumonia. Legionnaires’ disease is caught by inhaling small droplets of water (which contain the Legionella bacterium) suspended in the air. Legionnaires’ disease does not spread from person to person.
Ergonomics — the application of scientific information to the design of objects, systems and environments for human use.
Confined spaces — places which are substantially enclosed (though not always entirely) where serious injury can occur from hazardous substances or conditions within the space or nearby (e.g. lack of oxygen).
MSD (musculo-skeletal disorders) – problems such as low back pain, joint injuries and repetitive strain injuries of various sorts.
Safety representative — an employee appointed by trade unions to represent their members or elected by the workforce to represent them in consultations on health and safety issues.