The objectives of the act are to secure the health, safety and welfare of people at work.
" Employers' Duties: - Employers' are under a general duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all their employees' at work.
" Occupiers of premises have a duty to provide safe methods of work to persons other than their employees when working on their premises.
" Employees Duties: - All employees are under a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of themselves and any other person their work may affect, and to co-operate with their employers to enable them to comply with statutory duties and requirements.
" Regulations made under Section 15 of the act state that any breach of the requirements imposed by Regulations made under the act is an offence and may result in prosecution, with a fine of up to £20,000 or even imprisonment.

The work at height regulations 2005 apply to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause personal injury. They place duties on employers, the self employed, and any person who controls the work of others (e.g. facilities managers or building owners who may contract others to work at height) to the extent they control the work.

As part of the Regulations, duty holders must ensure:

* all work at height is properly planned and organised;
* those involved in work at height are competent;
* the risks from work at height are assessed and appropriate work equipment is selected and used;
* the risks from fragile surfaces are properly controlled; and
* equipment for work at height is properly inspected and maintained.

For more information go to http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/wahr.htm

Lays down general requirements for a number of bodies to prepare safe working practices for personnel during construction, and at post construction for maintenance personnel.
" Everyone who can contribute to health and safety for the construction industry has an explicit obligation to do so.
" The designer will have to ensure that the design of the buildings does not cause unnecessary danger to those who build, maintain and repair them.

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The improvement of workers safety… is classed as an objective that should not be subordinated to purely economic considerations.

These regulations state that every employer shall ensure that suitable PPE is provided to his employees and that every self-employed person shall do the same for himself/herself.

Lays down general requirements for employers to make suitable assessment of the risk to health and safety of employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work. A record should be made of significant findings. The risk assessment will identify measures that need to be taken to enable the employer to comply with relevant statutory duties.

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Requires that personnel working in an otherwise unprotected area with a possible fall distance in excess of 2m must wear fall arrest equipment

Lays down specific requirements for the design and manufacture of all types of fall arrest equipment. ALL PPE equipment must be approved to European Standards and must bear the CE mark.

Protection against falls from height - Anchor devices, requirements and testing.

Code of practice for application and use of anchor devices conforming to BS EN 795: 1997.

Code of practice for the use of rope access methods for industrial purposes.

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