Health and safety Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
EU workers EU workers with full movement rights are free to reside in other EU (and broadly European Economic Area) states, without necessarily obtaining formal prior permission. However, they must be employed, self-employed, studying, or economically self-sufficient to reside for more than three months. The Posted Workers Directive provides that workers “posted” to temporarily work in another EU state should have the same basic employment protection as other workers in the host state. By 18 June 2016, the UK will strengthen the protections in the area. Workers will be able to claim underpaid wages (up to the national minimum wage level) from the contractor immediately above their employer. Migrant workers The UK has a points based system for migrant workers from outside the European area intending to work in the UK, and a sponsor licence scheme for organisations wishing to employ migrant workers. There are also caps on the numbers of non EEA migrant workers.
The foundation of the legal structure for the management and enforcement of health and safety in the UK is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The Act creates health and safety regulations, many of which are industry specific. The primary duties under the Act are set out under sections 2 and 3. These place a duty on every employer to take all “reasonably practicable” steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of both employees (section 2) and non-employees (section 3) who might be affected by its undertakings. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Local Authorities are responsible for ensuring compliance with and enforcement of health and safety law in the UK. They have a series of statutory duties and powers under the Act to assist them in carrying out their functions. For example, they can issue duty-holders with Improvement and Prohibition Notices. The HSE is responsible for ensuring compliance and enforcement in the construction industry. In the event of a construction fatality, the incident will be jointly investigated by the police and the HSE, in accordance with the work-related deaths protocol. The role of the police is to investigate offences of manslaughter (both corporate and individual), whereas the HSE will investigate whether any duty-holder has breached health and safety legislation. Non-fatal construction incidents will be investigated by the HSE only.
Mark Hammerton Partner, Manchester T: +44 (0)161 240 2774
E: mark.hammerton@clydeco.com
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