Health and Safety at Work legislation is reserved to the UK Government and is regulated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) [1]. The HSE is responsible for the enforcement of the legislation covered in the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 [2] and associated Regulations [3-6] and can impose a variety of penalties for non-compliance.
Employers have a legal responsibility to ensure the health and safety and welfare of all their employees (e.g. pregnant workers and new mothers, young workers), and to ensure that other people (e.g. patients and contractors), who may be affected by the employers’ work activities, are not exposed to risks to their health or safety, so far as is reasonably practicable.
All members of staff also need to take responsibility for their own health and safety and that of others. This responsibility should be a clear part of employee contractual requirements and agreements with other members of staff.