Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
1999 No. 3242
HEALTH AND SAFETY
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Made 3rd December 1999
Laid before Parliament 8th December 1999
Coming into force 29th December 1999
The Secretary of State, being a Minister designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to measures relating to employers' obligations in respect of the health and safety of workers and in relation to measures relating to the minimum health and safety requirements for the workplace that relate to fire safety and in exercise of the powers conferred on him by the said section 2 and by sections 15(1), (2), (3)(a), (5), and (9), 47(2), 52(2), and (3), 80(1) and 82(3)(a) of and paragraphs 6(1), 7, 8(1), 10, 14, 15, and 16 of Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 19743(“the 1974 Act”) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf—
(a) for the purpose of giving effect without modifications to proposals submitted to him by the Health and Safety Commission under section 11(2)(d) of the 1974 Act after the carrying out by the Commission of consultations in accordance with section 50(3) of that Act; and
(b) it appearing to him that the modifications to the Regulations marked with an asterisk in Schedule 2 are expedient and that it also appearing to him not to be appropriate to consult bodies in respect of such modifications in accordance with section 80(4) of the 1974 Act,
hereby makes the following Regulations:
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and shall come into force on 29th December 1999.
(2) In these Regulations—
“the 1996 Act” means the Employment Rights Act 19964;
“the assessment” means, in the case of an employer or self-employed person, the assessment made or changed by him in accordance with regulation 3;
“child”—
(a) as respects England and Wales, means a person who is not over compulsory school age, construed in accordance with section 8 of the Education Act 19965; and
(b) as respects Scotland, means a person who is not over school age, construed in accordance with section 31 of the Education (Scotland) Act 19806;
“employment business” means a business (whether or not carried on with a view to profit and whether or not carried on in conjunction with any other business) which supplies persons (other than seafarers) who are employed in it to work for and under the control of other persons in any capacity;
“fixed-term contract of employment” means a contract of employment for a specific term which is fixed in advance or which can be ascertained in advance by reference to some relevant circumstance;
“given birth” means delivered a living child or, after twenty-four weeks of pregnancy, a stillborn child;
“new or expectant mother” means an employee who is pregnant; who has given birth within the previous six months; or who is breastfeeding;
“the preventive and protective measures” means the measures which have been identified by the employer or by the self-employed person in consequence of the assessment as the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions and by Part II of the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 19977;
“young person” means any person who has not attained the age of eighteen.
(3) Any reference in these Regulations to—
(a)
(a) a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule in these Regulations so numbered; or
(b)
(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation in which the reference appears.
Disapplication of these Regulations
2.—(1) These Regulations shall not apply to or in relation to the master or crew of a sea-going ship or to the employer of such persons in respect of the normal ship-board activities of a ship’s crew under the direction of the master.
(2) Regulations 3(4), (5), 10(2) and 19 shall not apply to occasional work or short-term work involving—
(a)
(a) domestic service in a private household; or
(b)
(b) work regulated as not being harmful, damaging or dangerous to young people in a family undertaking.
Risk assessment
3.—(1) Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of—
(a)
(a) the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and
(b)
(b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking,
for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions and by Part II of the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997.
(2) Every self-employed person shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of—
(a)
(a) the risks to his own health and safety to which he is exposed whilst he is at work; and
(b)
(b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking,
for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions.
(3) Any assessment such as is referred to in paragraph (1) or (2) shall be reviewed by the employer or self-employed person who made it if—
(a)
(a) there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid; or
(b)
(b) there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates; and where as a result of any such review changes to an assessment are required, the employer or self-employed person concerned shall make them.
(4) An employer shall not employ a young person unless he has, in relation to risks to the health and safety of young persons, made or reviewed an assessment in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (5).
(5) In making or reviewing the assessment, an employer who employs or is to employ a young person shall take particular account of—
(a)
(a) the inexperience, lack of awareness of risks and immaturity of young persons;
(b)
(b) the fitting-out and layout of the workplace and the workstation;
(c)
(c) the nature, degree and duration of exposure to physical, biological and chemical agents;
(d)
(d) the form, range, and use of work equipment and the way in which it is handled;
(e)
(e) the organisation of processes and activities;
(f)
(f) the extent of the health and safety training provided or to be provided to young persons; and
(g)
(g) risks from agents, processes and work listed in the Annex to Council Directive 94/33/EC8on the protection of young people at work.
(6) Where the employer employs five or more employees, he shall record—
(a)
(a) the significant findings of the assessment; and
(b)
(b) any group of his employees identified by it as being especially at risk.
Principles of prevention to be applied
4. Where an employer implements any preventive and protective measures he shall do so on the basis of the principles specified in Schedule 1 to these Regulations.
Health and safety arrangements
5.—(1) Every employer shall make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, having regard to the nature of his activities and the size of his undertaking, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures.
(2) Where the employer employs five or more employees, he shall record the arrangements referred to in paragraph (1).
Health surveillance
6. Every employer shall ensure that his employees are provided with such health surveillance as is appropriate having regard to the risks to their health and safety which are identified by the assessment.
Health and safety assistance
7.—(1) Every employer shall, subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), appoint one or more competent persons to assist him in undertaking the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions and by Part II of the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997.
(2) Where an employer appoints persons in accordance with paragraph (1), he shall make arrangements for ensuring adequate co-operation between them.
(3) The employer shall ensure that the number of persons appointed under paragraph (1), the time available for them to fulfil their functions and the means at their disposal are adequate having regard to the size of his undertaking, the risks to which his employees are exposed and the distribution of those risks throughout the undertaking.
(4) The employer shall ensure that—
(a)
(a) any person appointed by him in accordance with paragraph (1) who is not in his employment—
(i) is informed of the factors known by him to affect, or suspected by him of affecting, the health and safety of any other person who may be affected by the conduct of his undertaking, and
(ii) has access to the information referred to in regulation 10; and
(b)
(b) any person appointed by him in accordance with paragraph (1) is given such information about any person working in his undertaking who is—
(i) employed by him under a fixed-term contract of employment, or
(ii) employed in an employment business,
as is necessary to enable that person properly to carry out the function specified in that paragraph.
(5) A person shall be regarded as competent for the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (8) where he has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable him properly to assist in undertaking the measures referred to in paragraph (1).
(6) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a self-employed employer...
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