Introducing Working Safely

The HSE law leaflet sums up what health and safety at work is about. Which statement matches the leaflet?

• AIt is about making sure the paperwork is complete and filed
• BIt is about stopping you being hurt at work or made ill by work✓
• CIt is about protecting the business from compensation claims by customers
• DIt is about keeping inspectors satisfied when they visit

Answer: HSE's law leaflet says health and safety is about stopping you getting hurt at work or ill through work. It also says all workers have a right to work in places where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled, and that the employer is responsible for this but you must help. Protecting the business from claims, satisfying inspectors and completing paperwork are not how the leaflet describes the purpose of health and safety.

A colleague in your office says health and safety is the employer's problem and nothing to do with staff. What does the HSE law leaflet actually say?

• AIt is the responsibility of HSE inspectors alone
• BIt is entirely each worker's own responsibility
• CYour employer is responsible for it but you must help✓
• DIt is entirely the employer's responsibility

Answer: The HSE law leaflet states that your employer is responsible for health and safety, but you must help. The leaflet then lists what you must do, including taking reasonable care of your own and other people's health and safety and co-operating with your employer. Putting the whole duty on the employer, on each worker alone, or on inspectors ignores that shared responsibility.

You are a hotel porter. Which of these actions would breach the duty INDG450 describes, to take care of people who may be affected by what you do or do not do?

• AAsking for a trolley because a guest's luggage is too heavy to carry alone
• BReporting a broken handrail to your supervisor before the end of your shift
• CWearing the gloves provided when handling the recycling bins
• DLeaving a spillage on the lobby floor for someone else to deal with✓

Answer: INDG450 says you must take care of your own health and safety and that of people who may be affected by what you do or do not do. Walking away from a spillage is a failure to act that leaves guests and colleagues exposed to a fall, so it breaches that duty. Reporting a defect, asking for handling equipment and wearing the gloves provided are all examples of taking care and co-operating on health and safety.

A colleague in a warehouse has propped a fire door open with a fire extinguisher so trolleys pass through more easily. What should you do?

• ALeave it, because fire doors are the fire officer's responsibility
• BPut the extinguisher back and tell your supervisor✓
• CMove the extinguisher to a safer spot and prop the door with a box
• DSay nothing unless a fire actually breaks out

Answer: Workers must not interfere with, or misuse, anything provided for their health, safety or welfare, according to INDG450. An extinguisher is provided for safety, so using it as a door stop is misuse, and the law leaflet says to tell your employer, supervisor or safety representative if inadequate precautions are putting anyone at serious risk. Leaving it, swapping the wedge for a box or waiting for a fire all leave the problem in place.

Your new job in a food factory needs safety boots and ear protection. According to HSE guidance for workers, who pays for them?

• AYou, from your first month's wages
• BYou, but the cost is refunded after probation
• CYou and your employer share the cost equally
• DYour employer, who must supply them free of charge✓

Answer: Employers must provide, free of charge, any equipment and protection necessary for workers, such as clothing, shoes or boots, eye and ear protection, gloves and masks, and must ensure it is properly looked after. INDG450 and the HSE law leaflet both list this among the employer's responsibilities. Deducting the cost from wages, sharing it or refunding it later would all mean the worker paying, which the guidance rules out.

Which welfare facilities does the HSE law leaflet say your employer must provide for you?

• AA staff car park, with a space for every employee
• BToilets, washing facilities and drinking water✓
• CLockers, showers and a gym, whatever the type of work
• DA canteen serving hot meals, with free tea and coffee

Answer: The HSE law leaflet says employers must provide toilets, washing facilities and drinking water, together with adequate first-aid facilities. INDG450 describes the same right to suitable and sufficient toilets, washing facilities and drinking water. A canteen, a car park or a gym are not required, and HSE's welfare guidance only calls for showers where the type of work makes them necessary.

You think a job you have been asked to do in a warehouse is putting people at serious risk. Who does the HSE law leaflet say you should tell?

• AYour trade union's regional office, with the concern put in writing
• BThe Office of Rail and Road, by telephone
• CYour employer, supervisor or safety representative✓
• DYour colleagues, so they can decide together what to do

Answer: The HSE law leaflet tells workers to tell their employer, supervisor or health and safety representative if they think the work or inadequate precautions are putting anyone's health and safety at serious risk. If you are still worried after that, INDG450 says you can contact HSE or your local authority without getting into trouble. A union office, the rail regulator or a group of colleagues are not the route the leaflet gives.

Your employer has not put up the health and safety law poster. According to HSE, what is the employer's alternative?

• AKeep a single copy in the manager's office
• BGive every worker the equivalent leaflet✓
• CRead the poster aloud at the next team meeting
• DEmail each worker a link to HSE's website once a year

Answer: The Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989 require employers either to display the HSE-approved law poster or to provide each worker with the equivalent leaflet. INDG450 adds that the poster should be in a prominent place and that a pocket card can be given to each worker as the alternative. A yearly link, a read-out at a meeting or a copy kept in an office are not what the regulations allow.

Your employer is about to change the shift pattern on a production line. Under HSE guidance on consulting employees, what does consultation require the employer to do?

• AHold a workforce vote and go with whichever option gets the majority
• BInform you, listen and take account of your views before deciding✓
• CPost a notice of the final decision, at least a week before it takes effect
• DGet written agreement from every affected employee

Answer: Consultation means giving employees information and also listening to them and taking account of what they say before making any health and safety decision, and INDG232 says it must happen in good time. Shift-work arrangements are given as an example of a measure that may substantially affect health and safety, so they must be consulted on, though the employer still makes the final decision. Simply announcing a decision, holding a vote or collecting signatures is not consultation as HSE describes it.

A 17-year-old has just started as a kitchen porter in your restaurant. What does HSE say the employer must give workers so they can work safely?

• AA copy of the full risk assessment, signed and kept on file
• BA written contract that lists every hazard in the kitchen
• CClear instructions, information, training and supervision✓
• DA personal accident insurance policy, paid for by the business

Answer: Employers must give workers clear instructions and information, as well as adequate training and supervision, because everyone who works for them needs to know how to work safely. HSE's guidance singles out people with particular training needs, including new recruits and young employees, so a newly started 17-year-old fits both. A signed risk assessment, a contract listing hazards or a personal insurance policy are not what the guidance requires.

According to HSE guidance, who enforces health and safety law in workplaces?

• AThe police together with the Fire and Rescue Service
• BTrade union safety representatives
• CThe employer's competent person
• DInspectors from HSE and local authorities✓

Answer: Health and safety inspectors from HSE and local authorities enforce health and safety law and seek to secure compliance with it. INDG450 says HSE protects workers by enforcing the law and offering advice, and HSE's RIDDOR guidance names HSE, local authorities and the Office of Rail and Road as the enforcing authorities whose inspectors can ask for accident records. The law leaflet names the Fire and Rescue Services only as a source of fire safety advice, while safety representatives and competent persons help the employer rather than enforce the law.

A pallet falls from racking in a warehouse and lands where a colleague had been standing seconds earlier, but nobody is hurt. Why does HSE guidance still want near misses like this reported and looked at?

• AOnly incidents that actually cause an injury have any bearing on risk
• BThey can show where controls are failing and prompt a review✓
• CThe colleague can then claim compensation for the shock
• DHSE fines employers for each near miss left unreported

Answer: HSE says employers should consider reviewing their controls if workers have spotted problems or there have been any accidents or near misses. Accident and ill-health records also help to identify less obvious hazards, and HSE describes dangerous occurrences as near-miss events with the potential to cause harm. Injury-free incidents do matter, near misses are not a route to compensation, and HSE guidance does not say every near miss is reportable or fined.