August EWJ 24 - Flipbook - Page 9
Your MOT certificate is a snapshot of the roadworthiness of the vehicle at the time of the MOT test when
considering certain safety-critical aspects that are assessed, e.g. brakes, structure, tyres, steering, suspension, lighting, seatbelts etc, meeting the acceptance
criteria allowing for a further 12 months of normal
road usage. What if you decide not to take heed of the
MOT tester’s advisory comments regarding the
steering, brakes, and suspension?
There are several pieces of legislation that apply to
work equipment in the UK. Legislative regulations
and statutory instruments are laws in the UK that
must be abided by. Below are a few examples of the
most common that will be relevant for most businesses. Other, more specialist regulations such as
DSEAR and COMAH are relevant to dangerous and
explosive atmospheres. These regulations are discussed in more detail in an article by Tristan Pulford.
On your way home from the garage (where you have
just had the annual service and MOT), you hit a pothole causing damage to the wheel, suspension and
steering assembly causing instability – an instant MOT
failure (now not due for another 12 months). Or, what
if your brake systems started to malfunction causing
your brake pads to stick, resulting in excessive and uneven wear so they fail the minimum legal braking requirement? You are aware of the damage caused and
the effect on the vehicle’s driving stability, but money
is tight, and you continue driving the car.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA)
This is the overarching primary piece of legislation in
Great Britain covering occupation health and safety.
This is the dominant piece of legislation that the HSE
prosecutes under most times.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1999 (MHSWR)
This was introduced in December 1999. Its aim was to
reinforce the HSWA. The MHSWR placed a duty on
the employer to identify risks that employees, contractors, and members of the public may face and
steps to be taken to control and/or mitigate those risks
through a formal assessment process, which is clearly
documented and briefed to the concerned parties.
Six months later, you are driving along, a child runs
into the road and you apply emergency braking but
inefficient brakes fail to slow the car adequately. You
try and swerve to avoid collision but due to the fault in
the suspension and steering, the car oversteers and
crashes into a school bus stop.
The Supply of Machinery Safety Regulations 2008 SoMSR
The purpose of the legislation is to ensure safe
machinery is placed on the UK market or put into service by requiring manufacturers to show how their
machinery products meet the ‘Essential Health and
Safety Requirements’. The equivalent document in
the EU is the Machinery Directive. The SoMSR and
Machinery Directive are symbiotic which demonstrates that such imports and exports to/from the EU
have been produced to the necessary safety standards.
The difference between them is that the SoMSR is
legislation and therefore enshrined in UK law.
You are now being interviewed under caution for
causing death by dangerous driving. The police report details the faults and damage to the steering, suspension, and braking systems. Your only defence is an
MOT certificate from 6 months ago and you claim
that the MOT is valid for a further 6 months. Would
this be considered sufficient to demonstrate you have
done everything reasonably practicable to keep the
vehicle safe and roadworthy?
What is your defence?
Scary stuff right?, these same principles apply to statutory work equipment, and owners and duty holders
should be able to evidence that they have taken all reasonable steps to ensure the work equipment is suitable, safe, and in good working order and that a
sufficient risk assessment is in place for the work activity in accordance with Regulations 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations
1999.
The Lift Regulations 2016
The 2016 Regulations provide powers to market
surveillance authorities to take action to protect consumers, workers, and users from the risks associated
with unsafe lifts or associated safety components. This
allows those authorities to take action against economic operators that present a risk through the import/export of unsafe Lifts/components or are not in
compliance with the Regulations.
What legislation applies to work equipment in the
UK?
Regulations and ACOPs are intended to assist an organisation in complying with the Health and Safety at
Work Act 1974 but can also be legally binding in their
own right. It is important to remember that the primary purpose of UK Health and Safety legislation is
not just compliance, it is to ensure the safety of people,
by ensuring the safety of people, this assists in achieving compliance with the HSWA 1974. As owners and
duty holders, it is your responsibility to ensure the
safety of those persons in your employment and those
persons who are not in your employment, i.e. members of the public whose safety may be affected by your
activities.
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment
Regulations 1998 -PUWER
PUWER places duties on people and companies who
own, operate, or have control over work equipment.
PUWER also places responsibilities on businesses and
organisations whose employees use work equipment,
whether owned by them or not. This is another common piece of legislation by which the HSE prosecutes
under various regulations within it, particularly access
to dangerous parts of machinery Regulation 11).
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment
Regulations 1998 - LOLER
LOLER place duties on people and companies who
own, operate, or have control over lifting equipment.
This includes all businesses and organisations whose
employees use lifting equipment, whether owned by
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