HealthandSafety Executive Workplace health, safety …

1 IntroductionThe Wor kpla ce (Heal th, safety and Welfare)Regulations 1992 co ver a wid e rangeof basi c he alth , safet y and wel fare issu es an d app ly to mos t workp laces (wit h theexce pti on of th ose wo rkplacesinvo lvin g con stru ction work on cons truct ion sites,thos e in or on a shi p, or tho se bel ow gro un d at a mine) . They are amend ed by theQua rr ies Reg ula tion s 199 9, th e Healt h an d safety (Miscellaneous Amen dmen ts)Re gul atio ns 2002, the Work at Hei gh t Regu lations 2005 , and th e Con stru ct ion(De sig n an d Man agem ent) Regul ati on s 200 s leafl et gi ves a bri ef outl ine of th e requ iremen ts of th e Workp lace Regulat uirements under thes e Reg ulat ionsEm pl oyer s have a generaldut y und er sect ion 2 of th e health an d Safet y at Worketc Act 1974 to en sure, so far as is reas onab ly practicable,th e healt h, safet y andwel fare of th eir empl oyees at wo rk.

2 Peop le in co ntro l of non-d omesticpremis eshave a du ty (und er secti on 4 of the Act ) tow ards peop le wh o are not theiremp loye es but use thei r prem ises. Th e Regu lations exp and on th ese duties andare inte nde d to pro tect th e heal th and safet y of everyone in th e workp lace, andens ure tha t ad equat e welfare faci lities are providedfor peop le at e Regu lat ion s ai m to ens ure th at wo rkplacesmeet the health , safety andwel fare need s of all mem bers of a workfo rce, includ ing peo ple with disabili ti ra l of the Regul ati ons requ ire th ing s to be su itab le . Regu lation 2(3) makes itclea r that thi ngs sho ul d be sui tabl e for anyon e.

3 Th is inclu des peo ple withdis abi lities . Wh ere necess ary, parts of th e wo rkplace,inclu ding in part icu lar do ors,pas sage ways , stai rs, show ers, wash basin s, lavato ries and wo rkstations, sh ould bemad e ac cess ible for disabled peop ion Wo rkp lac e - thes e Regul ati on s app ly to a very wide range of workp laces, no t onlyfacto ri es, shop s an d offi ces but al so, fo r example,sch ools, hosp itals, hotel s andpla ces of en ter tai nm ent. The term workp lace also inclu des th e commonpart s ofsha red bui lding s, pri vate roads an d pat hs on indust rial es tates an d bu sin ess parks,and tem por ar y works ites (except workp laces involvin g co nst ruction wo rk oncons tr uct ion si tes).

4 Wo rk - mean s work as an emp loyee or self-employed pers on. P rem ises - means any pl ace incl ud ing an outd oor ,safetyandwelfareA short gui de for managers1 of 8 pag esThisisaweb-friendlyversionofleafletIND G244(rev2)He alth and SafetyExe cut iveWo rkp lac e healt h, sa fet y an d welf are: A short guide for managers Dom esti c prem ises - mean s a pri vate dwelling . Thes e Regulations do not apply todom est ic prem ises, and excl ude ho mew orkers. How ever , they do ap ply to hotels,nur sing hom es and to part s of workp laces wh ere d omestic staff are emplo yed,suc h as th e kit chens of ho stel s.

5 Disabl ed per son - has the meani ng given by section1 of the Disab ilit yDis cr iminatio n Act 19 mea sur es outl ined in thi s sect ion co ntrib ut e to the general wo rkin genvi ronm en t of peop le in the wo rkp kpla ces need to be adequ atel y ven tilated . Fresh , clean air sho uld be draw nfrom a sour ce ou ts ide the wo rkpl ace, un con tami nated by disch arges from fl ues,chi mn eys or othe r pro ces s out lets, an d be ci rcu lated th roug h the nti lati on sho uld al so rem ove an d dilu te warm, hu mid air an d provid e airmove men t whic h gives a sens e of fresh ness with out caus ing a drau gh t.

6 If thewor kpl ace cont ains pro cess or heat ing eq uipment or ot her sources of dust , fumesor vapo ur s, more fresh air wi ll be need ed to provid e ad eq uate ven til at dow s or other openi ng s may pro vid e su fficient ven tilation but, where necessary,mec han ica l ven til ati on sys tem s shoul d be provid ed and regu larly main tain ures in indoor wo rkp lacesEn vi ro nm ent al facto rs (suc h as humi dity and sources of hea t in the Workplace ) co mb inewi th pe rso na l fac to rs (such as the cl othing a worker is wearing and how physical lyde ma nd ing th ei r wo rk is) to influe nce what is called someo ne s thermalcomfo rt.

7 Ind ivi dua l per son al preferencemakes it difficu lt to specify a thermal en viro nme ntwhi ch sati sfi es everyone. For wor kpl aces where the act ivity is main ly sed ent ar y, forexam pl e of fic es, th e tem perat ure sh ou ld normall y be at least 16 C. If work involvesphys ica l ef for t it shoul d be at leas t 13 C (un less oth er law s req uire lowertem per atu res ).Wo rk in hot or co ld en vi ro nm ent sThe ri sk to th e he alt h of wo rkers increasesas cond ition s move fu rth er away fromthos e ge ner al ly ac cepted as comfortable. Risk of heat stress arises , for example,from wo rki ng in hi gh air tem peratu res, exp osu re to high th ermal rad iation or highlevel s of hu mi di ty, such as thos e fou nd in fou nd ries, glass works an d lau ndrie d stres s may ari se, fo r exam pl e, from workin g in cold stores, fo od prep arationareas an d in th e open ai r durin g wi ses sm ent of th e ri sk to wo rkers health from workin g in either a ho t or co ldenvi ronm en t ne eds to co nsi der bot h person al an d en viron men tal facto rs.

8 Personalfacto rs inclu de bod y acti vi ty, the am ou nt and typ e of clo thin g, an d duration ofexp osu re. Envir onm ental fact ors incl ude amb ient temperature an d radian t hea t; andif the wor k is ou tsi de, sun light , wi nd velocityan d th e pres ence of rain or sno of 8 pag esWo rkp lac e healt h, sa fet y an d welf are: A short guide for managersHe alth and SafetyExe cut ive3 of 8 pag esWo rkp lac e healt h, sa fet y an d welf are: A short guide for managersAct ion s ar isin g from your ass essment may includ e: introd uci ng eng ineeri ng meas ures to co ntro l th e th ermal effect s in a workplaceenvi ron men t, fo r exam pl e hea t effects , may involve insulatin g an y plan t whichacts as a rad iant heat so urce, thereb y improving air movement, increasingvent ila tion rates and mai nt ain ing the ap propriatelevel of hu midity.

9 Th e rad ianthea t ef fects of the sun on indoor en viron men ts can be ad dres sed eit her byor ien tati ng the bui ldi ng so that it doesn t suffer from th e effects of solar loading,or wh ere thi s is no t po ssi bl e, by the use of blin ds or sh utters on ere wor kers are ex pos ed to col d an d it is no t reason ab ly practicable toavoi d ex pos ure yo u sho ul d con si der , for example,using cab heaters in fork-lifttr ucks in col d st ores; res tr icti on of ex pos ure by , for exam pl e,re- or gan isi ng tasks to buil d in rest period s or other breaks from work. Th is willall ow wor ker s to rest in an area wh ere th e en viro nmen t is comfortable an d, ifnec ess ar y, to repl ace bo di ly fl uids to comb at dehyd ration or cold.

10 If work ratescau se exces si ve sweat ing , wo rkers may need more frequ en t rest breaks and afaci lity for chan ging int o dry cl oth ing; me dic al pre- sel ecti on of emp loyees to ensu re th at they are fit to work in th eseenvi ron men ts ; us e of sui tab le person al prot ect ive cl ot hin g (wh ich may need to be heatres ist ant or insul ati ng, dep endi ng on wh eth er th e risk is fro m heat or cold); accl imati sati on of workers to the en vi ro nmen t in which th ey work, particu larlyfor hot en viro nm ents ; tr ain ing in th e precaut ions to be taken ; an d sup erv isi on, to ensu re that the precautionsidentifiedby the assessmentare taken.