Work Equipment: Specific Rules
The main regulations are the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, often referred to as the Work Equipment Regulations. These set the minimum legal standards to ensure the provision of safe work equipment and its' safe use.
Other specific rules also apply to the safety and safe use of work equipment, especially those covering common hazard areas (eg. electricity, noise, etc.), particular industries (eg. construction industry, etc.), types of equipment (eg. VDUs, personal protective equipment, etc.) or special training requirements (eg. woodworking machines, abrasive wheels, etc.).
The Need for Good Management
To ensure that legal obligations are met for health and safety risks associated with the workplace it may be necessary to strengthen your systems and procedures for monitoring risks, risk controls and health and safety arrangements. This is because developments in science, technology and management are continually increasing the level of knowledge about hazards and the state of the art for controlling risks.
Moreover, the need for good management of health and safety risks associated with work equipment is accentuated by the employer's strict liability for personal injuries caused to employees by defective equipment. The liability is strict insofar as, under the Employer's Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969, the employer must pay compensation even if someone else has been negligent, such as the landlord who provided the equipment or the producer, supplier, installer or maintainer of the equipment.