General duties

It is an employer’s duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees and other people who might be affected by their business (Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974). The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 place an overriding duty on employers to make workplaces suitable for those who work in them. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, require the employer to undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks and take action to prevent exposure to risks. They should:

• identify what could cause injury or illness in the business (hazards);

• decide how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously (the risk); and

• take action to eliminate the hazard, or if this isn’t possible, control the risk.