A comprehensive guide to workplace health, safety and welfare regulations for employers

Produced in partnership with Melanie O'Brien of DG Legal
Practice notes

A comprehensive guide to workplace health, safety and welfare regulations for employers

Produced in partnership with Melanie O'Brien of DG Legal

Practice notes
imgtext

This Practice Note covers regulatory requirements relating to health and safety in the workplace including requirements relating to the provision of safe workplace equipment and manual handling. The regulatory requirements originate from a number of sources. See our Health and safety—key legislation table for a summary. This Practice Note covers health and safety requirements in an office-based workplace. Other industry/workplace-specific requirements may apply in different working environments.

For information about the regulatory requirements relating to visual display screen equipment, please refer to the Practice Note: Display screen equipment—regulatory requirements.

For practical information about managing and ensuring health and safety in the workplace, see Practice Note: How to manage health and safety in the workplace.

For specific manual handling requirements, see subtopic: Manual handling.

Legislative requirements

Various pieces of legislation exist in relation to health and safety in the workplace.

Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974

Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (hswa 1974) is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety.

In summary, as an employer,

Melanie O'Brien
Melanie O'Brien

Melanie read law at King's College London and was then recruited by Herbert Smith LLP (now Herbert Smith Freehills) as a trainee solicitor. After being admitted as a solicitor in 2001, she was retained by Herbert Smith as a solicitor in their litigation department and reached the level of senior associate. She was located at their London office for seven years and advised and acted upon a wide range of commercial and real estate disputes. Melanie left private practice to become a director at DG Legal, a specialist management consultancy practice where she provides advice and assistance in relation to legal practice management, compliance, risk and quality assurance. She also assists firms in setting up legal practices and submitting applications to the SRA for regulatory approval and provides assistance with ongoing compliance including firms' COLP and COFA obligations. As a non-practising solicitor, she also calls on her litigation experience to advise on practical issues arising from disputes and in particular those relating to Legal Aid contracting, assessment and audit appeals, procurement and regulatory compliance. Melanie is also a Director of Legal Voice, the not-for-profit online magazine for legal professionals.

Powered by Lexis+®
Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Workplace definition
What does Workplace mean?

Any place that is not a domestic residence which is made available to any person for the purposes of work.

Popular documents