Legal Responsibilities of Employers & Employees in Relation to the Working Environment

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1. Responsibilities Employer Responsibilities (4) Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 Section 4 of the Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1992 places a duty on anyone responsible for the workplace to ensure that the premises, plant and machinery do not endanger the people using them. This regulation is further detailed by the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER). The regulations require that equipment provided for use at work is suitable for intended use, safe for use, maintained in a safe condition, only used by people who have adequate instruction & training, accompanied by suitable safety measures e.g. protective devices and is appropriately marked. Employers should ensure that any equipment which is used by an employee at work is covered, for example hammers, knives, ladders, photocopiers, power presses, lifting equipment and motor vehicles. Additionally, if employees provide their own equipment, it too will be covered under PUWER and the employer will need to ensure it complies The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 This regulation implements directives on minimum safety and health requirements for work with display screens and equipment (DSE). The regulation aims to protect the health of people who work with DSE. The Regulations were introduced because DSE have become one of the most common types of equipment employees typically interact with. It is the employer’s responsibility to perform a suitable and sufficient analysis of the workstations of display screen users to assess the health and safety risks to which they are exposed. These are mainly visual fatigue, mental stress & physical problems such as upper limb disorders (ULD’s). Upon review of the assessments, employers are obligated to reduce the risks identified to the

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