Lifting and Handling: Main General Duties
The employer may need to do more than is required by any of the Particular General Duties and Specific Rules in order to comply with his general duties which are to ensure, so far as is reasonably, practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of his employees, and to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons NOT in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.
Example:
Neither the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 nor the particular general duties require a DIY superstore to safeguard customers against the risk of back injury from using poor lifting techniques when carrying packs of heavy or unwieldy material or equipment to the checkout. However, the superstore is required by its general duty towards non-employees to run its business so that this risk is avoided or reduced.