The concept that employees should be safe at work is not a recent phenomenon. Legislation was developed in the 1970s to streamline the many different statutes governing safety issues making management responsible for the provision and maintenance of adequate standards and policies.
But although there are many different statutes governing safety issues, health and safety is not only governed by legislation. Under what is known as ‘common law’ all employers have a duty of care imposed on them to protect their employees. There is also a term implied into all employment contracts requiring employers to take care of their employees’ health and safety. For example, employers must:
If an employer fails to take reasonable care in any of these areas, an employee may have a number of claims, including the ability to resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal. Employees, too, have responsibilities and should work with their employer to develop a safe place of work.
The legislation relating to health and safety is very extensive. One of the most important statutes is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA). All work places are covered by this legislation which says that an employer must do everything reasonably practicable to provide a safe and healthy workplace with adequate welfare facilities. HSWA has been supported and extended by various sets of regulations, codes of practice and guidance, all of which deal with various aspects of health and safety.
Following a successful prosecution, the courts would decide what penalty to impose which may include fines or even custodial sentences. Fines for most existing health and safety offences range from £5,000 to £20,000 in the Magistrate's Court but are unlimited in the Crown Court. There is also the threat of imprisonment for all employees who may have contributed to a health and safety offence by their consent, connivance or neglect. Yes, you can go to prison for health and safety offences!
Some examples of other relevant legislation include:
The "six pack" regulations
A full list of all UK Health & Safety legislation can be found on the HSE website
Breach of the regulations is a crime throughout the UK. Since 2015, the maximum penalty in the magistrates’ court is an unlimited fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both. In the Crown Court, the maximum penalty is an unlimited fine or imprisonment not exceeding two years or both. Either an individual or a corporation can be punished and sentencing practice is published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council.
In addition to extensive legislation, there is ongoing research and consultation concerning workplace health and safety.
Employers’ duties to provide a safe and healthy working environment arise from the core principles of negligence, contract, and the numerous specific statutory duties referred to above.
All employers with more than five employees must have a statement of their health and safety policy. This statement must:
Policies should be produced after consultation with employees and after conducting surveys on staff attitudes to health and safety. They should be also applied uniformly and there should be a system for regularly monitoring and reviewing the policy to ensure that it complies with current legislation. The adoption of a tailor-made policy is best practice and entirely 'off the shelf' policies are discouraged. The obligation to provide a health and safety policy originally arises under section 2(3) of the HSWA. In cases of flagrant disregard, enforcement officers may issue improvement notices which if contravened lead to the ultimate potential sanctions of criminal penalties, including large fines and imprisonment. SBM Safety Solutions can assist you with this requirement and formulate a policy and arrangement manual specific to your company – Call 0800 787 9006 (Freephone) to discuss your requirements.
Some key examples of the employer’s duties with respect to a place of work include:
Inspectors from the local authority Environmental Health Department, or HSE are responsible for enforcing health and safety law, and organisations can be prosecuted for breaches. All workplaces must be registered with either of these two bodies. Employees can report any breaches of the legislation or seek advice from them.
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 require employers to prevent or reduce risks to health and safety of their employees from exposure to noise at work. Employees also have duties under the Regulations to co-operate with reasonable requests from their employer in the pursuit of complying with these regulations.
The Regulations set specific "exposure action values" and "exposure limit values", these are detailed in table 1 below and place specific duties on to employers which includes:
Exposure action values and exposure limit values
Daily or weekly personal average noise exposure |
Peak sound level |
Peak sound level |
Actions |
Lower Exposure Action Values |
80dB (A-weighted) |
135dB (C- weighted) |
|
Upper Exposure Action Values |
85dB (A- weighted) |
137dB (C- weighted) |
|
Exposure limit values |
87dB (A- weighted) |
140dB (C- weighted) |
|
Noise is measured in decibels (dB). An "A-weighting" written as "dB(A)", is used to measure average noise levels, and a "C-weighting" of "dB(C)", to measure peak, impact or explosive noises. Where the exposure of an employee to noise varies markedly from day to day, an employer may use weekly personal noise exposure in place of daily personal noise exposure for the purpose of compliance with the Noise Regulations.
SBM Safety Solutions are asked to assist with a wide variety of environmental noise assessments including, assessments for planning applications (adjacent to road, rail or industry for example), the installation of industrial plant (e.g. adjacent to sensitive receptors) or for a change of use on an industrial site or an extension of operational hours or activities in any commercial environment (including pubs, retail, entertainment etc.).
All noise surveys are carried out to meet the latest standards and we confirm the requirements set out by the local governing department, be it Environmental Health, Planning or Building Control.
We'll work for you alongside the local authority to ensure your noise issues are discharged accordingly and that a suitable solution is achieved that satisfies all interested parties.
Existing Standards and guidance that we will refer to, includes (not exhaustively):
'Guidance on sound insulation and noise reduction for buildings'.
This standard is used to ensure that specific internal noise levels are achieved for either existing or proposed residential developments. The standard gives guidance to the maximum permitted internal levels that are be being achieved.
'Methods for rating and assessing industrial and commercial sound'.
This standard is widely used throughout the country, all local and county councils regard this standard as an appropriate standard for assessing the impact of a potential noise complaint from industrial noise affecting existing or proposed residential premises.
Planning and Noise'. We may also refer to previous guidance PPG24 and existing guidance for Wales TAN 11.
To establish the typical average internal or external noise levels for daytime and night time, before and after construction. These surveys are usually up to 24hours in length and can be carried out to assess the typical level of ambient noise or specific factors such as road traffic, nightlife or noise from industrial sources.
'Description and Measurement of Environmental Noise'.
This standard relates to the procedure and methodology that should be adopted and implemented in order for a qualified acoustic engineer to carry out an accurate and traceable noise survey of an external environmental noise source.
The above standards are often used in conjunction with each other in order to compile and complete a full external environmental noise survey depending on the individual circumstances of the project.
We have been carrying out pre-completion sound testing for 10 years through our Associate Company Martec. Call 0800 787 9006 (Freephone) to discuss your requirements. As required by The Building Regulations (England & Wales) Part E, all acousticians are accredited by the Association of Noise Consultants (ANC). Upon completion, ANC certificates will be issued (uploaded online for clients and Building Control) and a Technical Report provided, detailing sound insulation testing results and recommendations. Test engineers conducting the sound testing are also all members of the Institute of Acoustics MIOA. All equipment used calibrated to UKAS accredited standards.
These tests are more commonly known and referred to as sound tests, sound insulation tests or simply SI tests. The requirements for this sound testing refer to either new build constructions or refurbished developments.
Our sound testing procedures are carried out in accordance with current standards ISO 140-4 'Field Measurement of Airborne Sound Insulation Between Rooms' and ISO 140-7 'Field Measurement of Impact Sound Insulation of Floors.' The results are rated in accordance with ISO 717-1 and ISO 717-2. These results are then assessed generally in accordance with the 2010 Building Regulations Approved Document E (ADE) 'Resistance to the Passage of Sound' and will either pass or fail the prescribed standards.
For purpose built dwellings or dwellings formed by material change of use, the Building Regulations Approved Document E 2003 'Resistance to the Passage of Sound' requires separating structures to meet the prescribed standards, as below:
The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 came into force on 6 July 2005.
The Regulations apply to both hand-arm vibration (HAV) and whole-body vibration (WBV). They make provision for the following:
Exposure limit values and action values
For HAV, the exposure values are:
(m/s2 = metres per second squared; A (8) = the daily exposure to vibration of a person)
Daily exposure should be ascertained on the basis set out in Schedule 1 (Part 1) to the Regulations
For WBV the exposure values are:
(m/s2 = metres per second squared; A (8) = the daily exposure to vibration of a person).
An employer who carries out work which is liable to expose any of their employees to risk from vibration shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk created by that work to the health and safety of those employees and the risk assessment shall identify the measures that need to be taken to meet the requirements of these Regulations. SBM Safety Solutions can assist with your assessment and calculate exposure using manufacturers data or by measuring the levels of vibration on site using the latest meters and accelerometers.
The environmental impact resulting from vibration issues is becoming an increasing concern, especially for local authorities, due to national environmental legislation.
We can assist with the measurement and impact evaluation of environmental noise and vibration from various sources, in accordance with the following standards and guidelines:
2 Betley Hall Gardens
Betley
Crewe
CW3 9BB
Steven Mellor (Managing Director)