health and safety

The requirements of the Regulations need to be
considered alongside other health and safety law.
For example, section 2 of the HSW Act requires
all employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably
practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all their
employees. Similarly, the MHSWR contain important
duties relating to the carrying out of a risk assessment
to identify measures that you can take to eliminate, or
reduce, the risks presented by the particular hazards
in your workplace. Guidance on how to do this is set
out in 5 steps to risk assessment (see Further
information).

Other more specific legislation may also apply, for
example :

■ The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare)
Regulations 1992, which cover, for example,
workplace risks to pedestrians from vehicles;

■ The Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare)
Regulations 1996 which contain, for example,
specific requirements relating to certain types of
work equipment such as scaffolding.

Generally, if you are meeting the requirements of
more specific legislation such as those outlined above,
then this should normally be sufficient to meet the
more general requirements of PUWER.