Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 1992
Part of the EC 6-pack, became effective on 1 January 1993. It requires that individual protection is provided for any staff required to use potentially hazardous equipment or work in hazardous areas. The use of PPE should only be considered where danger cannot be controlled or modified by any other means - employers should consider it a final resort and not the first, cheapest option. It covers the provision of items such as protective boots, gloves, eye guards, etc.
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrence Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995
These Regulations require that any major injuries, illnesses or accidents occurring in the workplace are formally reported to the enforcing authority. The Regulation defines major injuries and lists notifiable diseases - many of which can be occupational in origin. It also defines notifiable Dangerous Occurrences - incidents such as explosion, structural collapse, electrical overload, fire, etc - where no injury occurs but subsequent investigation may be required.
Control of Substance Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994
These Regulations define substances that may cause ill-health: dust, fumes, biological and chemical agents such as paints and cleaning materials. Employers are required to assess the risks presented by these substances and put into place appropriate measures to prevent or control exposure. This may require modification of work practices, staff training, use of suitable PPE or replacement with safer alternatives. All chemicals used in the workplace are required to have an accompanying COSHH Data Sheet which provides technical, composition and first aid information that can be used in the event of exposure.
The children act 1989
The Children Act 1989 is based upon the belief that children are generally best looked after within the family, with both parents playing a full part and without resort to legal proceedings. The welfare of the children is the paramount consideration.
Courts will not make orders regarding children unless the parents are in fundamental disagreement - about where they should live, what sort of contact they should maintain etc - or if there are concerns about their welfare. Parents are encouraged to seek agreement wherever possible.
Children should always be consulted (subject to age and understanding) and kept informed about what will happen to them. Court decisions about their future upbringing should be responsive to their needs. Parents and the children's wider family circle (grandparents and other relations) should continue to have a role to play in the lives of their children even when they are living apart from them. This contact should be safeguarded by each parent.
Children's issues must be determined as soon as possible so that minimum disruption is caused to the child's life. To minimise delay the court must draw up a timetable at a preliminary hearing in respect of subsequent proceedings. The court must have regard to a prescribed Statutory Checklist of the factors to be taken into account in deciding the future of children.
The Children Act 1989 came into force in England and Wales in 1991 and (with some differences) in Northern Ireland in 1996.
The Children Act 1989 - the court must have regard in particular to :-
the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned (considered in the light of his age and understanding)
his physical, emotional and educational needs
the likely effect of any change in his circumstances
his age, sex, background and any characteristics of his which the court considers relevant
any harm which he has suffered or is at risk of suffering
how capable each of his parents, and any other person in relation to whom the court considers the question to be relevant, is of meeting his needs
the range of powers available to the court under this Act in the proceedings in question.
The disability discrimination act 1995
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) aims to end the discrimination which many disabled people face. This Act gives disabled people rights in the areas of:
employment
access to goods, facilities and services
buying or renting land or property.
The employment rights and first rights of access came into force on 2 December, 1996; further rights of access came into force on 1 October, 1999; and the final rights of access will come into force in October 2004.
In addition this Act:
allows the Government to set minimum standards so that disabled people can use public transport easily.
Disability Discrimination Act Part I - Definition of disability
The Act defines a disabled person as someone with "a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities."
Disability Discrimination Act Part II - Employment Provisions
The employment provisions apply to employers with 15 or more employees. The provisions, including those that require employers to consider making changes to the physical features of premises that they occupy, have been in force since December 1996.
There are two ways in which an employer might unlawfully discriminate against a disabled employee or job applicant:
by treating him or her less favourably (without justification) than other employees or job applicants because of his or her disability, or
by not making reasonable adjustments (without justification).
Disability Discrimination Act Part II - Duties of Trade Organisations to their disabled members and applicants
Discrimination against disabled people by trade organisations is also covered by the DDA. This Code of Practice - to be found on the DRC website - explains the provisions in the Act and gives practical guidance on how trade organisations can prevent discrimination against disabled people.
Disability Discrimination Act Part III - Access to Goods and Services
Part III of the DDA gives disabled people important rights of access to everyday services that others take for granted.
Duties under Part III are coming into force in three stages.
Treating a disabled person less favourably because they are disabled has been unlawful since December 1996.
Since October 1999, service providers have had to consider making reasonable adjustments to the way they deliver their services so that disabled people can use them.
The final stage of the duties, which means service providers may have to consider making permanent physical adjustments to their premises, comes into force in 2004.
The fire safety and the safety of sport places act 1987
Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975
The Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 was passed following the disaster at Ibrox Stadium in 1971 and Lord Wheatley's subsequent report. It was introduced to address primarily the issue of safety of spectators at sports/football stadia where large numbers of people attend.
Under that Act, Scottish Ministers designate stadia requiring a General Safety Certificate from the appropriate local authority. Stadia subject to designation are those which in the opinion of the Scottish Ministers have accommodation for more than 10,000 spectators.
For more information on General Safety Certification under the 1975 Act can be obtained by contacting the relevant local authority.
The data protection act 1998
1. The Act implements EC Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data which was adopted on 25 October 1995 for implementation by 24 October 1998. One of its purposes is to safeguard "the fundamental rights of individuals". In March 1996, the Home Office issued a consultation paper concerning the implementation of the Directive which was drawn to the attention of NHS bodies. "Data Protection: The Government's Proposals" (CM 3725) was issued in July 1997 prior to the introduction of the Data Protection Bill which subsequently received Royal Assent on 16 July 1998. Its main provisions come into force on 1st March 2000.
Scope of the Act
2. The Act defines personal data as that which relates to a living individual who:
- can be identified from that data or
- from that data and any other information which is in the possession of, or likely to come into the possession of, the data controller.
and includes any expression of opinion about the individual and any intentions of the data controller or any other person in respect of the individual.
3. Data is defined as information which is:
- processed automatically or recorded with the intention to process automatically or
- recorded as, or with the intention that it be, part of a manual "relevant filing system" which is further defined in the Act or
- contained in a health, educational or social services record.
4. A health record for the purposes of the Act is one which relates to the physical or mental health of an individual which has been made by or on behalf of a health professional in connection with the care of that individual.
5. Thus with the exception of anonymised information most if not all NHS information concerning patients, whether held electronically or on paper, will fall within the scope of the Act. The inclusion of manual or paper based records within the scope of the Act is one of the major changes from the 1984 Act.
General Principles
All processing of data to which the Act applies must comply with 8 principles which are reproduced in Section A. The first principle is particularly important as it emphasises that processing must be fair and lawful in the context of the common law and other UK legislation. Generally it will be complied with if all the following conditions are met:
- the common law of confidentiality and any other applicable statutory restrictions on the use of information are complied with;
- the data subject was not misled or deceived into giving the data;
- the data subject is given basic information about who will process the data and or what purpose;
- in the case of health data, one of the conditions in both Schedules 2 and 3 (reproduced in sections B and C) to the Act is satisfied.
The food safety act1990 and the food safety, (general food regulations) act 1995
The Food Safety Act aims to protect consumers:
by preventing illness from the consumption of food
by preventing them from being misled as to the nature of the food they are purchasing.
The primary legislation on the safety of food is the Food Safety Act 1990. The structure of the Act provides a flexible framework for our food law, instead of going into great detail on matters such as the chemical or microbiological safety of food, food quality or food labelling and advertising, it concentrates on the fundamentals and leaves the detail to subsidiary regulations.
The Food Safety Act 1990 act requires and the information contained here applies to everyone involved in supplying food for sale for human consumption. There are a number of sources of expert advice on the Food Safety Act 1990. The Environmental Health or Trading Standards Departments of your local authority should normally be your first port of call.
Section 40 of the Food Safety Act 1990 permits Ministers to issue Codes of Practice to food enforcement authorities concerning the execution and enforcement of the Act and subordinate legislation made under it.
This provision was not altered by the Food Standards Act 1999.
The Codes set out instructions and criteria to which the authority should have regard when engaged in the enforcement of food law and are intended to achieve more even standards of enforcement by food authorities.
There are currently 20 separate Codes of Practice issued under Section 40. The majority of the Codes were issued in 1991 following the introduction of the Act. Additional Codes were published in the mid -1990s to coincide with implementation of EU Product Specific Hygiene Regulations. Only a few of the Codes have been revised since they were first published.
A complete review of all the Codes was agreed in 1999 because some Codes:
∙ Had become out of date (eg containing guidance on amended, repealed or replaced regulations) and conflicted with best practice;
∙ No longer reflected local authority structures (eg following the creation of unitary authorities);
∙ Pre-dated the wider role of LACORS to embrace food hygiene and safety co-ordination, and the development of the home authority principle and similar co-ordination initiatives.
The Codes also need to be amended to reflect the role of the FSA's Framework Agreement with local authorities which came into force on 1 April 2001.
This agreement includes the Enforcement Standard which makes a number of references to the Codes as criteria for service delivery and against which the FSA can audit food authority enforcement work.
The most significant proposals for change relate to the inspection rating schemes which food authorities use to set inspection frequencies for food premises.
The existing food hygiene scheme is simplified to aid consistency and a new food standards scheme, based on the same principles as the revised food hygiene scheme is introduced.
Premises subject to product specific hygiene Regulations are now excluded from the inspection rating scheme, in response to Food & Veterinary Office calls for shorter inspection frequencies in this area, and the Code directly specifies the minimum number of inspections required for these premises (2 or 3 inspections per annum subject to premises type).
The lowest risk premises need no longer be included in the inspection programme to enable food authorities to use alternative enforcement approaches other than inspection (e.g. questionnaires, self-assessment etc), and so provide greater flexibility for local authorities in the use of their resources.
The view of the Agency is that the proposed Code amendments will have a broadly neutral financial impact on both food businesses and local authorities.
The extra work associated with increased inspection frequencies in respect of 'product specific' premises may be balanced by the use of alternative enforcement approaches for lowest risk premises.
Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations
These Regulations set out the basic hygiene principles that food businesses must follow in relation to staff, premises and food handling.
Under the Regulations, you must have effective food safety management measures (or 'controls') in place, to ensure that food is produced safely and that the health of your customers is not put at risk.
Food safety management is all about identifying how and when things could go wrong and introducing checks to stop that happening. The act forces businesses to think about the daily work of the business and how they follow the principles of good hygiene. Regular checks are made so you know you are following the principles.
The Working Time Regulations act 1998
The Working Time Regulations are health and safety regulations relating to work and rest that all workers need to be aware of.
The Working Time Directive is a piece of EU legislation designed to prevent damage to the health of workers through working excessive hours.
The Organisation of Working Time Act sets out statutory rights for employees in respect of rest, maximum working time and holidays. It provides protection for the employee, by specifying:
„h A maximum of 48 hours working week averaging out over 17 weeks
„h New laws on rest breaks - Minimum daily rest periods of 11 hours
„h Annual leave entitlement of 20 days minimum
„h Recording of employee rest periods
„h Public holiday entitlements for part-time workers
Rest
„h 11 hours daily rest for 24-hour period.
„h 1 period of 24 hours rest per week preceded by a daily rest period (11 Hours)
„h Rest breaks - 15 minutess where up to 4 ½ hours have been worked; 30 minutess where up to 6 hours have been worked which may include the 1st break.
„h Shop employees whose hours of work include the hours 11.30AM - 2.30PM must after 6 hours work be allowed a break of 1 hour which must commence between the hours of 11.30AM - 2.30PM.
If there are variations in rest times and rest intervals under agreement or in the permitted sectors, equivalent compensatory rest must be available to the employee.
Night workers
„h Night- time is the period between midnight and 7 am the following day.
„h Night workers are employees who normally work at least 3 hours of their daily working time during night- time and the annual number of hours worked at night equals or exceeds 50% of annual working time.
Maximum Night Working Time
„h For night-workers generally - 48 hours per week averaged over 2 months or a longer period specified in a collective agreement which must be approved by the Labour Court.
„h For night-workers whose work involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain - an absolute limit of 8 hours in a 24 hour period during which they perform night work.
Holidays and public holidays
There is no qualifying period for holidays and all employees, regardless of status or service, qualify for paid holidays.
Depending on time worked, employees' holiday entitlements should be calculated by one of the following methods -
∙ 4 working weeks in a leave year in which the employee works at least 1,365 hours (Unless it is a leave year in which s/he changes employment).
∙ 1/3 of a working week per calendar month that the employee works at least 117 hours.
∙ 8% of the hours an employee works in a leave year (but subject to a maximum of 4 working weeks).
Employees who meet the qualifying criteria in relation to time worked are allowed twenty paid working days leave for a period of 12 months work.
In addition to annual holidays, there are nine public holidays in Ireland (New Year's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter Monday, the first Monday in May, the first Monday in June, the first Monday in August, the last Monday in October, Christmas Day and St. Stephen's Day).
In respect of public holidays, an employee must be given either a paid day off on that day, a paid day off within a month of the day, an extra day's annual leave, or an extra day's pay, all of which are at the option of the employer.
Sunday work
If required to work on a Sunday, there are provisions requiring particular compensation to employees.
Those not covered by the Act
You are not covered by the rest and maximum working time rules if you're a member of the Defence Forces, the Garda Siochana, a junior hospital doctor, a transport employee, if you work at sea, if you control your own working hours or if you are a friendly employee working on a farm or private house.