Workplace Legislation Flashcards
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974: The Employee
- Should wear protective clothing and follow guidelines on how to use the equipment and machinery.
- Should also immediately report faults with the machinery/equipment.
- Should attend health and safety training.
- Be observant and report hazards in the workplace.
- Should ensure they are familiar with the organisations health and safety policy.
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974: The Employer
- Should provide protective clothing and safe equipment and machinery.
- Should communicate clear procedures for dealing with accidents in the workplace and ensure they are accurately recorded.
- Should provide health and safety training.
- Should provide a written health and safety policy which is kept up to date and available to all staff.
Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981
- Regulations that state there must be qualified first aider
- Also must be suitable first aid equipment depending on number of employees
- Employers must carry out assessment of their organisation’s specific first aid needs
Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
Regulations cover the working environment, safety, facilities and the maintenance of equipment and premises.
Examples include:
* Effective 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.
Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992
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 brightness and contrast, adjustable chairs are provided, footrests are provided if requested, keyboards can be adjusted and are separate 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.
The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 / Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 1999: The Employee
- Each employee 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.
The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 / Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 1999: The Employer
Duties of Employer
* Employer shall ensure, as far as 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 risk assessment looks at the premises, the activities carried out there, and the potential for a fire to occur and the harm it could cause.
The employer should:
* identify the people at risk
* identify the fire hazards
* evaluate the risk and decide if existing fire safety measure are adequate
* record the fire risk assessment information where 5 or more employees are employed
* review the fire risk assessment at regular intervals
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): What is Included
- The data they collect
- The way they use the data
- How they store the data
- How they share the data
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): If a breach is discovered
Companies must notify the Data Protection Regulator within 72 hours after 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 – up to 20 million euros or 4% of a company’s global turnover.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): The Recipients Rights
- The right to be informed about what they are doing with data, specifically through privacy notices.
- The right of users to access their data within one month, without a fee being charged.
- The right to rectification (simply means the right for individuals to correct any incorrect data that a business is holding).
- The right to erasure (also known as the “right to be forgotten” meaning people have the right to have certain types of data deleted under certain circumstances).
- The right to restrict processing which means the user can ask a business to stop using their data in certain ways.
- The right to data portability which means the user’s right to download the data company’s hold about them and upload to a different service provider.
- The right to object, meaning an individual’s right to object to a company’s use of their data.
- Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling which relates to data used for the purposes of marketing, advertising and behavioural analysis.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): What is Personal Data?
Any information which relates to a living individual who can be identified, such as:
* Name
* Phone Number
* Health Information
* IP Address
Computer Misuse Act 1990: Offences Covered
- 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 mean that it is an offence to modify or delete information on a computer system that you have not been authorised to.
Freedom of Information Act 2000
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.
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
Gives creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works the rights to control the ways in which their material may be used.
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988: Reproducing Material
To reproduce any materials under copyright, a user needs to seek the owner’s permission and may be asked to pay a fee. A user can also pay a fee to the Copyright Licensing Agency which will allow them to copy small sections without permission.
Breaching Health and Safety Legislation: Consequences to the Business
The HSE can and will:
* enter and inspect premises without warning
* provide advice
* issue improvement notices and give warnings
* shut down premises
* impose a fine or prosecute if necessary.
Breaching Health and Safety Legislation: Consequences to the Employee
- a verbal warning
- a written warning
- final written warning
- suspension
- dismissal
- fine
- demotion
- criminal or civil prosecution.
General Consequences of Breaching 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
- The organisation may develop a bad reputation
- 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
When a new employee starts they should receive a copy of the health and safety policy and also receive any necessary training on health and safety issues.
Communicating Legal Requirements to Employees
Staff Training
Staff should be kept up to date on a regular basis on health and safety issues, including the safe use of any new equipment.
Communicating Legal Requirements to Employees
Notice Boards/Posters
These can be displayed in certain areas to remind staff about procedures such as fire drills and no smoking.
Communicating Legal Requirements to Employees
Company Intranet
This can be used to pass on key information to staff as all staff will have access to this and files can be stored in a central area.
Communicating Legal Requirements to Employees
Demonstrations
This can be used for practical activities such as fire drills or first-aid procedures.
Communicating Legal Requirements to Employees
Staff Meetings
If information regarding any health and safety policies needs to be given to all staff than a meeting is the quickest way to ensure that this information is passed on.
