Significance of the Statutory Duties - Assignment Example

Health and Safety Case Study Name Institution Date 1. Identify, and explain the significance of, the statutory duties that apply to the situation described (25) Under the Health and Safety Law in UK, there are various statutory duties that are significant and apply to the situation of Mrs. Preston. The health and safety of employees in the workplace is regulated by the Health and Safety Executive Law in UK. Under the law, employers are provided with statutory duties that they must meet in ensuring that their employees remain healthy and are safety in the workplace and also when undertaking any duties that are assigned by the employer (Health and Safety Executive 2015, p.1). These statutory duties are relevant in the situation of Mrs. Preston who got harmed while undertaking her duties as a social care assessor at the social services department of Fentham Metropolitan District Council. While at the neighbourhood of the client she was visiting, Mrs. Preston was attacked and injured by an unknown youth. From the situation, it is clear that Mrs. Erica Preston did not have knowledge of whether the estate she was visiting the client was not safe and that people are not allowed to pass by that neighbourhood from their way out of work. Here, it is clear that the employer failed in one way or the other in informing the employee Mrs. Preston of the dangers that she may face when visiting a client in that neighbourhood. From the situation and the statutory duties provided by the HSE to all employers, Mrs. Erica Preston had a right of protection by her employer from the harm that she went through while undertaking her social care assessment. As per the Health and Safety Executive (2015, p.1), employers have a statutory duty of deciding and informing employees of anything that has a possibility of harming them during their job and give them any precautions that they should take in case they find themselves in such a situation. The employer also has a statutory duty to explain to the employee of ways in which one can control risks of getting harmed and inform them where, how and who is concerned with such measures. Employers are also required by the law to consult with their employees, work together them as well as the health and safety representative to protect every person in the work place. They also have a statutory duty to provide employee with health and safety training that they need in performing their jobs, equipment, protective clothing and properly look after the employee in a situations when performing their duties (Health and Safety Executive 2015, p.1). From the scenario, it is clear that the employer of Mrs. Erica did not take the above statutory duties into consideration to protect her from being harmed at work. They did not meet the statutory duties of taking the responsibility of managing the health and safety of their employee Erica who had the possibility of being affected by any activity that she undertakes while employed by the organisation. The employer did not control any risk to the injury that Erica suffered after being harmed by the unknown youth wile undertaking her duties as a social care assessor. Failure of meeting employers’ responsibilities as set out in the Health and Safety Law in UK is a breach of statutory duties and an organisation is usually held liable for its actions in a court of law (Health and Safety at Work Act 1974). Therefore, regulating body has the capacity to rain an action against the employer for any harm that is experienced by the employee while at work. 2. Review the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed civil action, making reference to the possible defences to the claim that the Council may consider (40) The Solicitors acting for Mrs. Preston’S Trade Union have an intention of pursuing a civil action on her behalf. In the civil action, the Solicitors will be pressing charge against the organization that employs Mrs. Preston, the Fentham Metropolitan District Council. The aim of the civil action will be to claim damages in connection with the accident that Mrs. Preston suffered while at work on the 7th of January 2015 at the Brunswick Estate, Fentham. The claim for damages will be based on the circumstances of the accident that Mrs. Preston was physically assaulted by unknown youth in the course of her employment. As per the Solicitors, the reason for raising a civil action is because the Fentham Metropolitan District Council as the employer did fault in their duty of protecting their employee Mrs. Preston. The organisation Fentham Metropolitan District Council failed in ensuring reasonable precautions were in place for the purpose of protecting Mrs. Preston from such an attack. From the attack, it is clear that Mrs. Preston suffered the injuries of Bruises on her left harm that caused her significant pain and phychological trauma that has a possibility of continuing that led to the premature birth of her baby. Therefore, a civil action will be raised to recover damages for Mrs. Preston for the injuries she suffered during the attack due to employer’s negligence of not taking a duty of care to their employee. From the case study, it is clear that the employer owed a duty of care to the employee and a civil action would help Mrs. Preston in being compensated for her injuries. The civil action that will be raised by the Solicitors has various strengths that would help the case go through. However, it has a possibility of being affected by several weaknesses that may hinder the court from awarding damages to the victim Mrs. Preston. The civil action is backed by the strengths of the employer, Fentham Metropolitan District Council having a statutory duty of care to protect its employee. This is a defence that the council may use to bring an action against the organisation to pay damages to the employee. According to ACAS (2015), duty of care for employers’ to their employees involves employers taking all steps that are reasonably possible for the purpose of ensuring that the health, safety as well as wellbeing of the employee is maintained while at work. As a legal duty, the physical and mental health of workers must be protected by employers. As per the law, employers have a responsibility of abiding y the healthy and safety laws as well as the employment laws that are relevant and also common law duty of care. Employers have a duty of preventing physical and psychological injuries to the workers. They must meet their responsibilities in relation to personal injury together with negligence claims (ACAS 2015, p.1). As per the Health and Safety Law, an employer is said to be in breach of their duty of care when they fail to perform their duties as expected and in reasonable circumstances to ensure the health and safety of the employee from getting harmed (Health and Safety Executive 2015, p.1). These are strengths that support the civil action that the solicitors can use as defences in the court of law when claiming damages to be paid to Mrs. Preston. However, the civil action to award damages to Mrs. Preston may be weakened by the fact that civil law and health and safety law apply differently when it comes to awarding damages. Civil law does not apply in the duties of an organization under the health and safety law in UK. These two laws apply differently. Under civil law, the duty of care in common law stipulates that voluntary organizations have a duty of care to individual volunteers and other people who have the possibility of being influenced by their activities (Health and Safety Executive 2015, p,1). In any case that a breach of duty occurs, an individual employee has a right of raising an action in court to claim damages. The employee may apply civil law after being injured due to the employer’s negligence. For the success of a negligence claim under civil law, the injured party/employee is required to give evidence that the employer/defendant had a duty of care towards him/her. One also must proof that the injury suffered was as a result of breaching the duty of care by the employer. A proof must also be provided to show that the injury to be awarded with damages were foreseeable and resulted from the breach of that duty of care on the part of the employer (Health and Safety Executive 2015, p.2). Under civil law, the liability in individual cases is determined by the courts and this is based on every circumstance of the case, actions as well as standards that are reasonable and expected from all the involved parties (Health and Safety Executive 2015, p.2). The court has the authority of deciding that a claim doesn’t have merit hence rejecting it. The court has the mandate of also reducing the damages that were to be awarded to the injured party for the purpose of reflecting contributory negligence for the injured party. This is a part that the Council may use as a defence in the civil action. However, it will not be applicable in the current case study since the applicable law in the case is the HSE Law. Things are different when it comes to health and safety law when dealing with cases of breach of duty of care by the employer. According to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, civil actions cannot be raised since this is a criminal law whose purpose is to protect employees and other people who have the possibility of being affected by the activities in the workplace. This law can only be enforced by the Health and Safety Executive and the local authorities within the state (Health and Safety Executive 2015, p.3). The courts do not have a jurisdiction to enforce the health and safety law in UK. Additionally, the civil action intended to be raised by the Solicitors may be weakened by the fact that the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 does not allow suing for damages to an employer who fails to meet the stipulated statutory duties to the employees. However, a breach of the health and safety regulation may be regarded as a civil claim to be compensated on the basis of breach of statutory duty. The civil action has a weakness of not having the capacity of being investigated under the health and safety law whereby the HSE together with the local authorities do not have powers to make investigations of events that are related to voluntary activities. Therefore, it may raise the question of what amount of compensation needs to be awarded to Mrs. Preston. 3. On behalf of the Councils Social Services Department, draft a) A policy statement on the risk of violence at work that sets out the key elements of a strategy for controlling such risk (15) Policy statement on the risk of violence and strategy for controlling risk The following policy statement is on the risk of violence at work together with the key elements of a strategy for controlling such risk Policy statement The organisation is committed to reducing threats of any risk of violence to the personal safety of all workers. The policy is also aimed at preventing visits that may expose the workers to the risk of violence and promote a zero tolerance to violence. The purpose of this policy is for protecting workers during situations that may lead to health problems of injuries or when workers are exposed to criminal violence. To achieve this policy, the following strategies will include the various elements that the organisation will exercise in promoting the safety of workers; Adequate assessment of the work environment for any exposure to the risk of violence before workers pay a visit Ensure that an agreement letter is written and signed by the client that the work environment or area of visit does not expose workers to violence Gather the necessary safety information about the work environment on the risk of violence before workers pay a visit to the area Provide workers with control measures that they can apply when at risk of violence like giving workers a direction on when to require a police involvement b) An information sheet for staff that shows the procedures to be followed in the case of home visits (10) Staff information leaflet The following procedures will be followed by all staff in the case of home visits Before making a home visit, employees are required to have a knowledge of the area and its level of safety When visiting homes ensure to make a plan of using the safest route to the estate and from the clients’ home Ensure to you understand the police stations, hospitals, restaurants and telephones among other facilities that are nearby the client’s home Have a knowledge of emergency services, police numbers and reliable taxis Know the subway route and schedule of the bus to the estate Ensure the client does not have your personal cell phone number Make home visit schedules as per the knowledge of the area as well as the client Make sure the organisation is informed and appraises all locations of home visits, arrival times together with the visit durations. References ACAS, 2015, Defining an employer's duty of care, Workplace Snippets, Available from: < http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3751> Health and Safety Executive, 2015, Health and Safety Law: What you need to know, Government of UK, Available from: < http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/law.pdf> Health and Safety Executive, 2015, Employers Responsibilities, Guidance for Workers, Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/workers/employers.htm Health and Safety Executive, 2015, How do civil law and health and safety law apply?, Voluntary Organisations, Available from: < http://www.hse.gov.uk/voluntary/when-it-applies.htm> Read More