You’re likely well aware of the obvious reasons for observing health & safety rules and regulations and you’ll know there’s a financial implication for non-compliance.
You’ll have nothing to worry about if you comply with all your CDM 2015 duties. All should be well if you complete your Construction Phase Health & Safety Plan, your Risk and COSHH Assessments, Method Statements, Health & Safety Policy, Safety File, Toolbox Talks, permits, registers and records. And not just complete them; act on them too. But does your paperwork reflect the most recent regulation change?
The law changed on 6th April 2022
On 6th April 2022 the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations were extended. They extend employers’ and employees’ duties regarding PPE equipment (safety helmets, eye protection, high vis jackets, protective gloves and footwear, and so on) to limb (b) workers as well. So based on the outcome of your risk assessments you need to provide PPE free of charge to limb (b) workers as you do for employees.
What is a limb (b) worker?
They’re someone who generally has a more casual employment relationship. They carry out irregular work for more than one organisation. After one month of continuous service they receive holiday pay but don’t have any other employment rights. They have a contract (could be verbal) to do work for a reward.
What’s the cost of non-compliance?
Should a limb (b) worker have an accident on site and you HADN’T provided the PPE you were supposed to, then you could face prosecution and legal action by the worker. If a Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspector makes a surprise visit to site, and your limb (b) worker is not using the required equipment you may be issued with a notification of contravention. An intervention involving letter writing, report-writing and so on, costs builders on average £750 – the clock doesn’t stop until the issue has been fully resolved and re-inspected.
Health & Safety Xpert to the rescue
Do-it-yourself Health & Safety management can be challenging. That’s why simple-to-use Health & Safety Xpert is so popular. You tell the software what you’re building and it selects the paperwork relevant to the project. Choose the Premium version and it will provide you with an editable Build Programme advising which phase of the job to apply the documents. It’s as easy as that. You can subscribe from £499+VAT per year and any further legal changes in that time will automatically be made to the software.
Watch a short online demonstration of Health & Safety Xpert in action. Call 0117 916 7898 to book your demo or go online to www.hbxl.co.uk/online-demo
