TOPIC 4 - Workplace Legislation Flashcards
Health and Safety at Work Act:
Employer
- should provide health and safety training
- should provide protective clothing and safe equipment and machinery
- should provide a written health and safety policy which is kept up to date and available to staff.
- should communicate clear procedures for dealing with accidents in the workplace and ensure they are accurately recorded.
Employee
- should attend health and safety training
- should wear the protective clothing and follow guidlines on how to use the equipment and machinery
- should ensure they are familiar with the organisations health and safety policy
- be observant and report hazards in the workplace
First Aid Regulations
These regulations state that there needs to be a qualified first-aid person and suitable first-aid equipment depending on the number of employees.
Employers must carry out an assessment of their organisations specific first aid needs.
Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations
These regulations cover the four main areas of the workplace: the working environment, safety, facilities and the maintenance of equipment and premises.
Examples include:
- effectice and suitable ventilation.
- lighting, as far is practicable, should be natural.
- room dimensions should be suitable to ensure good health, safety and welfare.
- appropriate hand washing facilities should be available
- adequate supply of safe drinking water.
Display Screen Equipment Regulations
These regulations provide protection for employees working with VDUs and computer equipment. Some of the areas covered by this legislation are as follows:
- employers must examine workstations and ensure that they are suitable for the work to be carried out.
- employers must ensure that workstations meet minimum requirements: the VDU can be adjusted with birghtness and contrast, adjustable chairs are provided, footrests are provided if requested, keyboards can be adjusted and are seperate from the screen.
- employers must ensure that employees are given suitable breaks or can change activity away from the VDU
- employers must provide eye tests if the employee requests this and provide glasses or contact lenses if special ones are needed for VDU work.
- employers must provide health and safety training and information to employees to ensure VDUs and workstations are used safely.
Fire Percuations Regulations:
Duties of employer
- employer shall ensure, as far is reasonably practicable, the safety of the employees in respect of harm caused by fire in the workplace.
- employer will carry out an assessment of the workplace for the purpose of identifying any risks to the safety of the employees in respect of harm caused by fire in the workplace.
The employer should: - identify the people at risk
- identify the fire hazards
- evaluate the risk and decide if existing fire safety measures are adequate
- record the fire risk assessment information where 5 or more employees are employed
- review the fire risk assessment at regular intervals
- provide fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and fire alarms
- practice fire drills at regular intervals
- regulary test fire alarms
- provide emergency lighting
Duties of employees
- each employees shall while at work take reasonable care for their own safety in respect of harm caused by fire
- take reasonable care for the safety of any other relevant person(s) who may be affected by acts or omissions of the employee
- co-operate with the employer in as far as is necessary with respect to fire legislation
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Data protection law applies to all personal data about individuals collected or processed in Europe regardless of those individuals nationality or citizenship. It applies whether the data is on paper or stored electronically. GDPR applies to all businesses whether they are large or small in every sector and industry.
Companies must notify the Data Protection Regulator within 72 hours if a breach of personal data has been discovered.
Data subjects may also have the right to be notified if the breach is high risk. Companies who do not comply may be faced with huge fines - 4% of a companys global turnover.
Principles of GDPR
- personal data shall be procressed lawfully and fairly
- personal data will be collected for a specific and lawful purpose
- personal data shall be adequate, relevant and limited
- personal data should be kept no longer than necessary
- personal data shall be processed securely
Staff actions to ensure compliance with GDPR
- data should be protected - shredded when finished with, computer screens locked
- confidential information should not be discussed inappropriately
- confidential information should be encryted or in password protected files if saving on laptops or memory sticks
- staff should be trained/ensure they attend GDPR training - especially new staff.
- only collect and store relevant data and ensure data is only used for its original purpose
- ensure organisations is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
- ensure data is not transferred to 3rd party without permission
- create a clear data use policy to explain to data subjects how their information is used.
- organisations must keep evidence of permission from subjects to store data.
- have processes for subjects to opt in and out of data storage
Computer Misuse Act
This legislation was created to prevent unauthorised access to computer systems. There are three offences covered under this legislation:
- no unauthorised access of computer material: this means that it is an offence to access computer material that an organisation or individual has no right to access.
- no unauthorised access with the intent to commit or help further offences: this means it is an offence to access a computer system with the intent of committing an offence to gain information that you have no right to gain or use.
- no unauthorised changes to computer material: this means that is is an offence to modify or delete information on a computer system that you have no been authorised to.
Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act provides public access to information held by public authorities. This means that:
- public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities
- members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities
- public organisations must be aware that the information they hold could potentially be viewed by the public.
- when a request is made the organisation must inform the applicant of any cahnges that must be paid for the request, e.g. photocopying, postage
- the organisation must let the member of the public know when they can expect to recieve the information.
- the organisation must respond within 20 days
- some information will be excluded from being accessed by the public
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
Gives creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works the rights to control the ways in which their material may be used.
To reproduce any materials under copyright, a user needs to seek the owners permission and may be asked to pay a fee. A user can also pay a fee to the Copyright Licensing Agency which will alow them to copy small sections without permission.
Breaching Health and Safety Legislation:
If an organisation does not follow legislations
- enter and inspect premises without warning
- provide advice
- issue improvement notices and give warnings
- shut down premises
- impose a fine or prosecute if necessary
Employees breaching legislation
- a verbal warning
- a written warning
- final written warning
- suspension
- dismissal
- fine
- demotion
- criminal or civil prosecution
General consequences of breach legislation
- customers lose confidence in the organisation and do not want to deal with them again
- customers choose to buy their goods and services from your competitors, leading to a drop in sales and profits
- the organisation may face legal procedures and fines for non-compliance
-negative publicity for the organisation - an employee may be provided with a poor reference from their previous employer which may make it difficult to obtain a new post. This would lead to financial problems for that former employee.
Communicating legal requirements to employees:
Induction training
This is training a new employee receives when they start a new job.
They should receive a copy of the Health and Safety policy and also receive any necessary training on health and safety issues.
Staff training
This is training staff receive on a regular basis to ensure that they are kept up to date on health and safety and data issues, including the safe use of any new equipment.
Notice boards/posters
This refers to displays in certain hgih traffic areas to remind staff about procedures such as fire drills and no smoking. These can be eye-catching and constantely on display. However, employees may become complacent about reading new information and remote employees may miss important information.
Company intranet
This is the organisations own web pages where key health and safety information can be posted. All staff will have addecc to this when they log in and files can be sorted in a central area. Company intranet can be easily updated with legislation updates.
Demonstrations
This refers to practical activities such as fire drills or first-aid procedures where staff will take an active part and practice the training.
Staff meetings
This refers to gathering staff either in one location or online to pass on information regarding health and safety. These are useful where information needs to be given to all staff and is one of the quickest way of ensuring that important information is passed on. Clarification can be given. An attendance register may be taken.
Health and Safety representatives
These are trained health and safety employees who should be available for advice and can provide information to employees.
Attachments can be added. No guarrantee staff have familiared themselves with the e-mail or attachments. Absent staff will be kept in the loop. TIme saving.
Intranet
An internal linked network of computers can allow the organisation to share the Health and Safety Policy with all staff. All staff should ensure it is read.
Presentation software
Powerpoint and google slides can be used to create health and safety presentations to share with employees. The use of animation and graphics can help to maintain the employees interest on this important topic.
E-diary
Health and safety training may be entered into the e-diary. Any important reading can also be attached.
Database
May perform a query on the staff database to ensure all employees have completed their health and safety training.
