Health and Safety

Taking care with materials, equipment and work procedures and dealing with hazards.

Health and Safety in Employment Act

The aim of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (HSE Act) is to manage the health and safety of people in the workplace. It places responsibility for safety on everyone involved in the workplace, whether employer, employee or self-employed. An essential part of this process is the identification of workplace hazards and the requirement to keep a register of accidents.

Hazard identification

Hazard identification and assessment of hazards is an integral part of all construction projects. Hazard identification can be made by:

  • inspection and analysis of the workplace processes
  • recording of all ac

Workplace hazards can be identified in a three-stage approach by:

  • physical inspection – looking at the work area
  • task analysis – looking at the tasks being carried out
  • process analysis – following the production processes.

Elimination, isolation or minimisation of hazards

The HSE Act requires that hazards in the workplace are identified and that all practicable steps are taken to control them using the hierarchy of control.

  • Significant hazards (i.e. the hazards that have the potential to cause serious harm or death) must have all practicable steps taken to eliminate the hazard (removed completely).
  • Where hazards cannot be eliminated then all practicable steps must be taken to isolate the hazard (physically separated).
  • Only if there are no practicable means of elimination or isolation available is it acceptable to minimise the hazard (protect employees form harm).

The hierarchy of hazard control includes ongoing monitoring and assessment of the risk of hazards.

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