Wk 2 Flashcards
what does HSWA stand for?
Health and Safety at Work Act
what does HSWA do?
a broad law that gives the government the power to create additional health and safety rules without needing to pass a new law each time.
Who developed the HSWA
Originally developed by the Health & Safety Commission (HSC) but now the Health & Safety Executive (HSE)
Section 1 of HSWA
Section 1:
-Secure health, safety, and welfare of persons at work.
-Protect persons other than workers against risks arising out of work activities.
-Control the keeping of dangerous substances.-Control the emission of noxious and offensive substances.
Creates “General Duties” on all those in the workplace
Section 2 of HSWA
Duty on employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all employee
Section 3 of HSWA
Places duties on employers to persons other than their direct employees
Section 4&5 of HSWA
Places duties on people in control of premises to limit harmful emissions
Section 6 of HSWA
Places duties on people who design, manufacture, supply and install plant, equipment and substances used during a project
Section 7 of HSWA
Places two general duties on employees;
–to exercise reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and others affected by their work
–to co-operate with the employer to enable them to undertake their statutory duties in health and safety
Section 8 of HSWA
Places a duty on everybody within the boundaries of a workplace:
–No person shall intentionally, or recklessly, interfere with, or misuse, anything provided in the interests of health, safety or welfare
Section 9 of HSWA
Prohibits employers from charging employees for safety equipment or systems.
what does reasonably practicable refer to?
in relation to the minimum standards required to comply with the duties
Implies the work undertaken must be capable of being completed safely
Describe the Edwards v The National Coal Board [1949] case study
established the balance between the risk against the cost (time, money and measures) to avert the risk
Describe the Regina v Associated OctelCo Ltd [1996]
incident?
Breaches?
Key point?
*Incident: Sub-contractor’s employee injured.
*Octel convicted for failing to ensure (so far as reasonably practicable) non-employees’ health & safety.
*Breaches: HSWA Section 3(1)
*Key Point: H&S dutiescannotbe transferred to sub-contractors
Describe the HSE v Port of Ramsgate Ltd and Others [1997]
incident?
fines?
Breaches?
Key point?
*Incident: Collapse of newly installed walkway: 6 fatalities, 7 injured.
*Fines: Port of Ramsgate + design/build contractors + design/build sub-contractors fined£1.7M(+ £700k costs)
*Breaches: HSWA Section 3(1)
*Key Point: Responsibility flows through the management chain(including the client
Describe the HSE v Balfour Beatty [2000]
incident?
fines?
Breaches?
Key point?
*Incident: Major tunnel collapse (Heathrow Express), no fatalities
*Fines: Balfour Beatty £1.2M + £100k costs; GeoConsult£500k + £100k costs
*Breaches: HSWA Sections2(1)&3(1)
*Key Point: Cost-cutting overshadowed safety consideration
Describe the HSE v William Hare [2003]
incident?
Breaches?
Key point?
*Incident: Fatal fall from an “unsafe” working platform
*Fines: £75k + £9k costs
*Breach: HSWA Section2(1)–failure to ensure employee health & safety “so far as is reasonably practicable”
What does the Health and Safety (Offences) Act, 2008 do?
–Deter businesses and individuals from breaking H&S regulations.
–Encourage companies to develop, apply, manage, supervise and control activities safely and take H&S seriously throughout the company.
What does The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, 2007 do?
Imposes criminal liability on organisations where management failures lead to death*.
*No new duties created; it establishes anew offense based on the pre-existing duty of care.
*Focuses on how a company’s activities are organised, managed, and controlled:
–If this falls below are reasonable standard and causes death→gross negligence → criminal conviction
Who’s senior management?
–Those with significant roles in decisions about the whole or a substantial part of the organisation’s activities
–Those who actually manage or organise a substantial portion of the organisation’s activities
To avoid prosecution, an organisation should.. (2)
–Maintain appropriate systems & procedures(e.g., risk assessments, H&S policies, method statements)
–Ensure these measures are robust to avoid prosecution under the Act
an organisation is guilty of an offence if the way activities are managed/organised, by senior management…. (2)
–Causes a person’s death
–Amounts to a gross breach of a duty of care owed to the decease
when does Gross negligence manslaughter occur?
when “a person causes death through extreme carelessness or incompetence.
Colin Holtom [2010] case study
–3-year jail sentence after a boundary wall collapse killed a 15-year-old worker.
–Found guilty of gross negligence by omission by Holtom
*Failed to do a risk assessment,
*Poor supervision
*Failed to supply personal protective equipment (PPE).
–Police and HSE: Proper H&S management could have prevented the accident
