requiring the employer to inform, instruct, train and supervise both his own employees and other workers who might, by their behaviour endanger his employees; • Paragraph (d), dealing with safe means of access to and egress from the place of work, reflects s 29(1) of the Factories Act 1961, but extends to all workplaces and, unlike s 29(1) (now repealed), cannot found a civil action; • Paragraph (e), the provision and maintenance of a safe working environment: the limits of this ‘mopping up’ provision are not entirely clear, but it is possible that it might, as it includes welfare arrangements, include coverage of protection against mental stress, such as might be caused by overwork, or harassment by fellow workers. Section 2(3): the safety policy : The absolute requirement that organisations prepare a safety policy and publish it to their employees was one of the novel duties imposed by the 1974 Act. The subsection is somewhat opaque, but there are, in fact three requirements:

doi:10.4324/9781843140504-175

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requiring the employer to inform, instruct, train and supervise both his own employees and other workers who might, by their behaviour endanger his employees; • Paragraph (d), dealing with safe means of access to and egress from the place of work, reflects s 29(1) of the Factories Act 1961, but extends to all workplaces and, unlike s 29(1) (now repealed), cannot found a civil action; • Paragraph (e), the provision and maintenance of a safe working environment: the limits of this ‘mopping up’ provision are not entirely clear, but it is possible that it might, as it includes welfare arrangements, include coverage of protection against mental stress, such as might be caused by overwork, or harassment by fellow workers. Section 2(3): the safety policy

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requiring the employer to inform, instruct, train and supervise both his own employees and other workers who might, by their behaviour endanger his employees; • Paragraph (d), dealing with safe means of access to and egress from the place of work, reflects s 29(1) of the Factories Act 1961, but extends to all workplaces and, unlike s 29(1) (now repealed), cannot found a civil action; • Paragraph (e), the provision and maintenance of a safe working environment: the limits of this ‘mopping up’ provision are not entirely clear, but it is possible that it might, as it includes welfare arrangements, include coverage of protection against mental stress, such as might be caused by overwork, or harassment by fellow workers. Section 2(3): the safety policy

ABSTRACT

The absolute requirement that organisations prepare a safety policy and publish it to their employees was one of the novel duties imposed by the 1974 Act. The subsection is somewhat opaque, but there are, in fact three requirements: (a) a safety policy – a statement of the employer’s philosophy and

commitment to safety; (b) a statement of the organisation and arrangements for carrying out that

policy – in the hierarchical management structures of the 1970s, employers tended to comply with this provision by providing a ‘family tree’, showing the line management chain from the shop floor to the board of directors. Such structures are probably rare today, now that the norm is for ‘flatter’ management structures, with devolved budgets;

(c) the arrangements for carrying out the policy.