Keenan and Riches’BUSINESS LAW

Chapter 16Employing labour

and practices across the organisation, providing a more
effective means for prosecuting the worst corporate fail-
ures to manage health and safety properly. Companies
found guilty of corporate manslaughter will be subject
to an unlimited fine. The court will also be able to impose
a remedial order to take specified steps to remedy the
breach within a specified period.

Codes of practice

Reference has already been made to certain ACAS codes
of practice issued under what is now the ERA. However,
codes of practice may also be issued in the field of health
and safety by the Health and Safety Commission and, in
particular, the Commission has issued a code and guid-
ance notes relating to safety committees and the main
regulations already considered.

Employment protection in health and
safety cases: consultation

Designated or acknowledged health and safety repres-
entatives must not be subjected to detriments, e.g. loss
of overtime, for carrying out health and safety activities
in the workplace. Dismissal or selection for redundancy
for these reasons can lead to a complaint to a tribunal.
These provisions apply to ordinary employees, regard-
less of service, who leave or refuse to return to the work-
place because of a health hazard reasonably thought to
exist.
Regulations also make clear that employers must con-
sult with trade union representatives about the making
and maintenance of health and safety arrangements and
about developing measures to ensure employees’ health
and safety. Consultation is with worker representatives
where there is no recognised trade union.

Other statutory provisions

Apart from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
and the General Regulations relating to health and safety,
three other areas are important in the general adminis-
tration of business. They are set out below.

First aid

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 (SI
1981/917) state that employers must determine what
provision for first aid is required. A properly equipped
first aid box must be provided in an appropriate place. If

the business has a first aider, that person should have

passed an approved course and be retested every three

years. If there is no trained first aider, the regulations

require that a person should be assigned to that func-

tion, the main duties of which are to take control if an

accident occurs, to call an ambulance if required and to

maintain the first aid box.

Amendments made to the 1981 regulations by the

Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regula-

tions 2002 (SI 2002/2174) require that a first-aid room

must be easily accessible and sign-posted.

Reporting accidents

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous

Occurrences Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/3163) require

the reporting of accidents at work to the local environ-

mental officer or the HSE. Failure to make a report is a

criminal offence.

For notification to the HSE a central reporting system

for the whole of the UK is in operation. Users have a

choice of contact by telephone or e-mail or via a website

or by completing the appropriate form and sending it by

fax or post to the centre in Wales.

Fire precautions

Specific and detailed legal requirements relating to fire

safety at work are laid down in the Fire Precautions Act

1971 (as amended) and regulations made under it. In

particular, regulations made under the 1971 Act make

compulsory the inspection and issue of a fire certificate

in respect of most workplaces where more than 20 people

are employed or more than ten persons are employed

at any one time elsewhere than on the ground floor.

Applications for a fire certificate must be made to the

local fire authority. The detailed requirements are beyond

the scope of a book of this nature and will not be con-

sidered further. However, new rules contained in regula-

tions designed to comply with the EC Directives are

relevant. The provisions appear below.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

(SI 2005/1541)

The regulations are currently in force and apply to

premises which are used as a workplace by at least one

person, as well as premises visited regularly by the public

where people who are self-employed work. The major

requirements are:

■Employers must carry out an assessment of the fire

risk using technical guidance from fire authorities.

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