Health and Safety at Work: Six Pack Regulations

Advice and Assistance from Cohen Cramer

If you have had an accident at work it may be as a result of a breach of six regulations that cover the majority of health and safety issues in this country, they are known as the ‘six-pack’ regulations and were introduced in 1992 and basically set out how your employer should manage their business to ensure the safety and well being of their employees.

If you have had an accident as a result of a breach of any of the ‘six-pack’ regulations then get in touch with us today and get your claim started.

  • call: 0113 224 7830 (24 hours)
  • email: enquiry@cohencramerpi.co.uk
  • pop your details into the contact box at the bottom of this page and we will get back to you

The regulations are as follows and apply to all business regardless of function or size:

The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations – this states that the employer must assess all significant risks to their staff taking account of the employee’s age, experience etc.

Manual Handling Operations Regulations – this states the employer must seek to avoid any manual handling tasks that have any risk of injury involved. If this can’t be done then steps should be taken to assess such risks and then seek to reduce the risk.

Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Regulations – this covers the use of workstations and not just the use of monitors and display screens. Employees must be allowed to interrupt screen use with rest or other forms of work and are entitled to employee-paid eye tests and, if assistance is required, the cost of glasses/contact lenses.

Workplace (Health, Safety, and Welfare) Regulations – this essentially covers the maintenance and upkeep of the premises and covers:

  • Maintenance
  • Ventilation
  • Temperature
  •  Lighting
  • Cleanliness
  • Space and room size
  • Workstations
  • Seating must be provided for each person doing that work.
  • Floors
  • Falls – precautions should be taken to prevent people from falling
  • Windows; construction and use
  • Traffic routes
  • Doors and gates
  • Escalators
  • Sanitary conveniences
  • Washing facilities
  • Drinking water
  • Clothing
  • Rest and meals
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations. These regulations ensure that:
  • Work equipment must be suitable for the purpose intended
  • Equipment must be properly maintained.
  • The employer must provide information, instruction, and training on the correct use of the equipment being used.
  • If the equipment carries a specific risk, use (and any maintenance, modification, or repair) should only be carried out by such workers with the specific training to do so.
  • The employer must ensure that there is no access to dangerous parts of machinery and to protect against the ejection of articles, substances, gases, liquids, dust etc.; overheating, fire or explosion, disintegration of parts of equipment, extreme hot or cold surfaces.
  • The employer must ensure that all controls are safe to use and clearly identifiable. In particular, start and stop controls, including emergency stops, must be designed to ensure health and safety.
  • It must be possible to switch the power off on all machinery
  • Equipment and plant must be stabilised by clamping or other means as required and as is necessary.
  • There must be adequate lighting to allow safe use of equipment and machinery etc.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulations

  • The employer must provide suitable PPE when the risk cannot be controlled or removed in any other way.
  • The  PPE must be appropriate to the risks involved and the work being done.
  • Where more than one item of PPE has to be worn, they must be compatible and effective when worn together.
  • Before buying any PPE the employer must carry out a risk assessment to see what, if any risks cannot be controlled by other means and to make sure that the PPE is suitable for protecting against those risks.
  • The PPE must be kept in good repair and cleaned or replaced as often as necessary
  • The employer must provide storage for protective equipment when it is not in use
  • The employer must provide staff with information, instruction, and training on the risks the PPE is intended to avoid, the use of the PPE and steps the employees are expected to take to maintain the PPE.
  • the employer must take steps to ensure that PPE provided is properly used. It is not to simply provide the equipment; it has to be used.
  • Employees must use PPE as directed and must report any loss or obvious defect to the employer as soon as they happen.

If you have had an accident as a result of a breach of the six-pack regulations it can be used as evidence of the liability of your employer for your injuries and losses.

Your claim can be dealt with on a ‘No Win – No Fee’ basis, this means that if for any reason we are not successful then you don’t pay us a penny for the work we have done. 

To get your claim started or to have a chat to see what we can do to help, get in touch with us today:

  • call: 0113 224 7830 (24 hours)
  • email: enquiry@cohencramerpi.co.uk
  • pop your details into the contact box at the bottom of this page and we will get back to you

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