SHEP (Safety and Health Engineering Partnership) has hosted a number of webinars over the past 18 months – all received excellent feedback from participants. In order to make this programme as beneficial as possible to the widest audience, SHEP would be grateful if you could take five minutes to advise which subjects you would like to see future webinars on. The online survey can be accessed here: https://forms.gle/aU5ZdN1HJmYyc5DQ8
The recording and presentation from last month’s SHEP webinar ‘A follow-up on metalworking fluid and welding fume’ can now be accessed on the SHEP website: SHEP UK | What’s on
And finally, HSE is currently consulting on Changes to the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPER) and would be grateful if as many stakeholders as possible could take part in the consultation which launched on Monday 19th July 2021 and will run for 4 weeks.
The consultation can be accessed via HSE Consultation Hub from this date. The aim of the consultation is to understand the impact on stakeholders and businesses of extending the scope of the employers’ duties under the PPER to workers and not only employees.
Why is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) making changes to the regulations?
In November 2020, a judgment was handed down in the judicial review action in the High Court brought by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) against the Secretaries of State for Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Work and Pension (DWP), which decided that the government had failed to properly transpose Article 8(4) and 8(5) of EU Directive 89/391/EEC (“the Framework Directive”) and Article 3 of EU Directive 89/656/EEC of 30 November 1989 (“the Personal Protective Equipment Directive”) into UK law.
The Framework Directive sets out the minimum standards for health and safety through a series of general principles, and the Personal Protective Equipment Directive (“PPE Directive”) sets out the minimum health and safety requirements for the use of personal protective equipment in the workplace for workers.
The UK implemented the PPE Directive through the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (“PPER”) which places duties on employers to their ‘employees’ in regard to PPE. The High Court found that the PPE Directive required these duties to be extended to ‘limb (b) workers’ (those not under direct employment contract) and not only ‘employees’. Therefore, HSE is making amendments to the PPER in order to align with the court’s judgment
What does this mean?
Employers will have a duty to provide limb (b) workers with the same health and safety protections in respect of PPE as they do currently for employees.
Options on how to achieve the extension of the provisions to workers in the legislation will not be presented during the consultation as the key legislative changes are being made to align with the court decision.
For any enquiries, please contact [email protected]
