Health and safety Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Health and safety - Assignment Example To enhance these laws and oversee the protection of the workers, health and safety commission is held responsible for enforcement of the law and its executive arm. 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 committees regulations 1977 allows the unions and worker 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 act 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