1st February 2013
Unit 4: Workshop Activity 1

Health and Safety Legislation

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASWA)
Every person which is employed has to have legal responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. ‘This means that employers must meet certain rules to make sure people are safe in their place of work.’ (Tassoni et al 2007:161). Employers must be careful that the risk will be low at all times for everyone. SO when you are working as a practitioner, it means that everyone in the setting, (including yourself) has a responsibility to keep everyone health and safety a must.
In places where the children are being taught and looked after, this act shows that,
The buildings should be safe and in a good enough condition and also they must be designed in a way that the safety of the users is paramount.
The surroundings of the buildings should be also clean and safe.
All equipment being used by the children and also the equipment not used for the children should be safely used and stored.
And the working settings must encourage the health and safety of children.
‘In nurseries and schools, etc., everyone who works there (including learners) must know what the written statement about safety says and put it into practice.’ (Tassoni et al 2007:162)

The Management of Health and Safety at Work 1999

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981
‘Employers should make sure that at least one person at each session has an up-to-date first aid qualification and is the ‘Appointed’ first aider.’ (Meggit et al 2012:158) The interpretation of the word first aid in this legislation can be different in many different circumstances. ‘In cases where a person will need help from a medical practitioner or nurse, treatment for the purpose of preserving life and minimising the consequences of injury and illness until such help is obtained,’ (www.hse.gov.uk 2007). There should be at least one first aider in the setting, where they are able to know what to do when an accident occurs quickly and effectively. The first aider, must know their duty of provision for first aid and know when to inform his or her employees with changes to the process of first aid.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSSH) regulations 2002
This legislation makes it visible the substances which can make people ill or injure the children or anyone in the setting, must be stored and used properly ‘Some example of hazardous substances are: cleaning liquids such as bleach, paints and chemicals.’ (Tassoni et al 2007:162). This legislation ‘COSHH is a useful tool of good management which sets eight basic measures that employers, and sometimes employees, must take. These are set out in this leaflet with a simple step-by-step approach which will help you to assess risks, implement any measures needed to control exposure and establish good working practices.’ (www.materials.ox.ac.uk 2005)

Reporting of injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995
This legislation covered the reporting of any sort of incidence and accident that happened on the employer’s premises. This includes an early years setting and other school setting. This legislation made it an importance to report incidents such as, ‘an act of non-consensual physical violence done to a person at work and an act of suicide which occurs on, or in the course of the operation of, a relevant transport system’ (www.legislation.gov.uk 2013) and ‘ an over-3-day injury, i.e. an injury which is not major but results in the injured person being away from work or unable to do their normal work for more than three days, certain work-related diseases and a dangerous occurrence – something which does not result in a reportable injury but which clearly could have done.’ (Tassoni et al 2007:165). The person that is given the health and safety responsibilities in an early years setting has this duty of recording these types of incidents or