Health and Safety Law - Essay Example

The European Union has as well been influential in the adoption of the health and safety regulations for its member states. These health and safety laws create the rights and obligations of the employees and employers. The UK health and safety act 1974 clearly identifies the duties that employers have towards their employees, themselves, and members of the community. According to the legislation, the employers have the responsibility to ascertain that the health standards and safety of its employees provide written policies on how to implement this and protect their contractors and suppliers.

The employees as well have the duty to be safe and ensure that their colleagues are not at risk and cooperate with their employers on health and safety. Additionally, the safety representatives and safety committee's regulations 1977 allow the unions and working group to appoint their heads who represent them on the health and safety issues. It is required that the appointed representatives are familiar with this legislation (Stranks, 2005). Some of the additional regulations that protect the employees in the health and safety activities include; management of health and safety at work regulations, manual handling operation regulation, provision of work equipment regulation, noise at work regulations, and electricity at work regulations among others.

The unions are involved in health and safety leadership, risk assessment, dedicating resources for health and safety, training the staff, and consulting them before making any major decisions.The health and safety commission is assigned the duties of monitoring the activities of different employers and ensuring that they are in line with the health and safety regulations. To enhance this, the health and safety commission carries out assessments to determine whether the employers meet the required standards for the safety of their employees.

In the case of employee accidents in the process of their job, the commission investigates to determine the cause of the accident. If the employees are found to have breached the health and safety regulations, the commission supports the employees and worker unions in filing lawsuits against the employers (Stranks, 2005).There are various operating requirements that the workshops are supposed to have met. These requirements include1. Risk assessment- it should be undertaken on processes that place a risk to the operator's safety2.

Eye protection- all the operators must be supplied with eye protection equipment like goggles to prevent the eyes from effects such as excessive light and sparks.3. Good housekeeping- it is essential that all the tools and equipment are safe to use, and defective devices should be repaired or replaced.4. Personal protection- protective clothing should be provided to the operators by their employers5. Storage of Materials- the workshops should be facilitated with racks and other forms of storage devices where all the materials are stored.6. Gangways- the gangways should be clear from equipment.