Employee / Employer and Public Health and Safety Responsibilities
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EMPLOYERS
It is an employer's duty to provide a safe and healthy place of work, including he safety of casual workers, part-timers and sub-contractors.  It is also the duty of employers to prepare a written Statement of Health and Safety Policy and to bring this Statement (and any revisions of it), to the notice of each employee.  Failure to do so can lead to prosecution and anyone injured at work can sue for damages.

Employers must ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and others who may be affected by their working activities.  The self-employed must ensure that other people who are on their premises are not exposed to risks.
Government Departments  ...............................................
(excluding the National Health Service)

Industrial Premises - factories/ plants .............................

Office, shops, hotels and boarding houses  ...................
Have Crown immunity and cannot be prosecuted.


Laws enforced by the Health and Safety Executive

Legislation enforced by the Local Authority Environmental Health Officer
The Health and Safety Executive and the Local Authority appoint Inspectors who are entitled to visit a workplace at any time in order to enforce the health and safety legislation.  They can, for example, remove or destroy any article that they believe to be in imminent danger of causing personal injury.

There are specific laws for factories, scrap-yards, building sites, abbatoirs, offices, shops, railway premises and places concerned with agriculture, mining and quarrying.  Working with machinery is outlined in a specially published Code of Practice for the industry concerned.
EMPLOYEES
Everyone in the workplace is responsible for complying with health and safety laws and has a legal obligation to:
  • ​Take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work - i.e.: to avoid injury to themselves and to others.
  • Refrain from interfering with or misusing any safety equipment.
  • Co-operate with their employer in complying with legal requirements.

Anyone who is injured because health and safety rules have been neglected can sue for damages.  When a company is prosecuted for contravening a health and safety provision, any director or manager who consented to the offence, or who negligently allowed it to happen, may be punished separately.

If an employee thinks that conditions or methods at work are unsafe or unhealthy, they should report the matter immediately.  If no action is taken, then contact the Health and Safety Executive.  For fire precautions, contact the local fire authority.
THE GENERAL PUBLIC
The public may contact the Local Authority if inconvenienced by smell or noise from workplaces.  If a factory leaves dangerous obstacles in the public's way, contact the Health and Safety Executive or the Local Authority.