Volume 14: Responsibilities for Human and Animal Health
9. Occupational health: The Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974
Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974
Introduction
Duties under the 1974 Act
Regulations and Codes of Practice

Introduction

9.4 In 1986, the basic health and safety regulatory framework was contained in the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974 and in Regulations made and Codes of Practice approved under it. The Act was intended:

1. to make further provision for securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work;
2. to protect others against risks to health or safety in connection with the activities of persons at work;
3. to control the keeping and use and prevent the unlawful acquisition, possession and use of dangerous substances; and
4. for certain other purposes. ¹

It applied to Great Britain - ie, to England, Wales and Scotland - but not to Northern Ireland, where the equivalent measure, the Health and Safety at Work Order (Northern Ireland) 1978, was broadly similar to the 1974 Act.

9.5 Part I of the Act, the relevant part so far as the Inquiry is concerned: ²

1. stated the general duties of employers, employees, self employed persons, those in control of non-domestic premises and manufacturers, importers and suppliers of articles for use at work; ³
2. created a Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and a Health and Safety Executive (HSE); ⁴
3. stated the procedure for making Regulations and approving Codes of Practice; ⁵ and
4. provided for enforcement of the requirements of the Act. ⁶

Duties under the 1974 Act

Duty of employers to their employees

9.6 Under the 1974 Act, it was the general duty of every employer to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, ⁷ the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees. ⁸ In particular, so far as was reasonably practicable, the employer had to provide a safe system of work; make arrangements for ensuring safety and absence of risk to health connected with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances; provide information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure health and safety at work; provide safe access to and from the workplace; and provide a working environment that was safe, without risk to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for welfare at work. ⁹

General duties of employees at work and others

9.7 Every employee, while at work, had to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and others who might be affected by his acts or omissions at work. An employee also had to cooperate with his employer, or any other person who had a duty under the Act, to enable that duty to be performed or complied with. ¹⁰

Duties of employers and the self-employed to persons other than their employees

9.8 Every employer and every self-employed person had to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that persons not in their employment, but who might be affected by their undertakings, were not exposed to health and safety risks. ¹¹

General duties of persons concerned with premises to persons other than their employees

9.9 Each person who had control of non-domestic premises had to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the health and safety of persons who were not his employees, but to whom the premises had been made available. ¹²

Duties of manufacturers, importers and suppliers

9.10 Manufacturers, importers and suppliers of any article for use at work had to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that it was designed and constructed to be safe and without risks to health for use by persons at work, that it was adequately tested, and that appropriate and up-to-date information was available to users. ¹³

Regulations and Codes of Practice

9.11 The 1974 Act provided for the making of health and safety Regulations and the approval and issuing of Codes of Practice. ¹⁴ Regulations could repeal or modify specified 'existing statutory provisions' relating to hazardous processes or materials. ¹⁵ The Secretary of State ¹⁶ and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (or both acting jointly) could make Regulations for the general purposes of Part I. ¹⁷ They could give effect to proposals for Regulations made by the HSC or independently of this, subject to consultation with the HSC and any other appropriate bodies. ¹⁸

9.12 Of particular relevance to the Inquiry are the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988 (COSHH). ¹⁹ These came into force on 1 October 1989, and imposed duties on employers to protect employees and other persons who might be exposed to substances hazardous to health. ²⁰ Employers were required not to carry on any work that was liable to expose an employee to such substances unless they had made a 'suitable and sufficient' assessment of the risks to health and of what needed to be done to meet the requirements of the Regulations; this assessment was to be kept under review and revised if appropriate. Employers were also required to:

1. prevent or, where this was not reasonably practicable, adequately control exposure to substances hazardous to health; ²¹
2. ensure that any control measures, personal protective equipment, etc they provided were properly used or applied;
3. maintain, examine and test control measures so that they were in an efficient state and working order and in good repair;
4. where requisite, ensure that the exposure of their employees to substances hazardous to health was monitored; ²²
5. ensure that their employees were under suitable health surveillance, including the maintenance of health records and employee access to them and regular examination by an employment medical adviser or appointed doctor; and
6. provide suitable information, instruction and training. ²³

9.13 Employees were required to 'make full and proper use' of any control measures, personal protective equipment, etc that were provided and to report immediately to the employer any defect in them. ²⁴

9.14 The 1988 Regulations were re-enacted with modifications by the COSHH Regulations 1994. ²⁵ Among other things, these implemented European Council Directive 90/679/EEC on the control of risks from exposure to biological agents at work. In the definition of 'substances hazardous to health', the term 'micro-organism' was replaced by 'biological agent', which was defined as 'any micro-organism, cell culture or human endoparasite, including any which have been genetically modified, which may cause any infection, allergy, toxicity or otherwise create a hazard to human health'. ²⁶

9.15 Apart from extending the requirements in respect of risk assessments and adequate control measures to cover work activities that might involve exposure to biological agents, the 1994 Regulations added specific control measures and other requirements in respect of intentional work with biological agents in laboratories or animal rooms. ²⁷ Schedule 9 provided that the Health and Safety Commission should publish a document categorising biological agents according to hazard and the level of containment needed when working with them in laboratories. This reflected the categorisation used in recent European legislation.