MHSWR 1999 Awareness

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 set out general duties for managing workplace risks.
Regulation 3 requires employers to carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessments for all work activities.
Risk assessments must be recorded where the employer has five or more employees.
Employers must appoint competent persons to help them comply with health and safety law (Regulation 7).
Regulation 10 requires employers to provide employees with comprehensible health and safety information.
Employees have a duty to use equipment correctly and report dangerous situations (Regulation 14).
Special provisions apply to new or expectant mothers, young persons, and temporary workers.
Employers must establish emergency procedures and appoint persons to implement them (Regulation 8).
Cooperation and coordination between employers sharing a workplace is required by Regulation 11.
MHSWR 1999 underpins all other health and safety regulations on construction sites.

Foundation regulation	MHSWR 1999 is the core regulation that requires risk assessment and safety management across all industries.
Legal duty	Failure to comply with MHSWR 1999 is a criminal offence that can result in prosecution, fines, and imprisonment.
Worker protection	Risk assessment and competent safety management are the mechanisms that prevent death and injury at work.

Do

Don't

Complete suitable and sufficient risk assessments for all work activities on site
Record risk assessments in writing and make them available to all relevant workers
Appoint competent persons to advise on health and safety management
Provide workers with clear health and safety information relevant to their tasks
Establish and communicate emergency procedures for all foreseeable incidents
Assess specific risks to young workers, new starters, and expectant mothers
Cooperate with other employers sharing the workplace on safety matters
Review risk assessments when conditions, methods, or personnel change
Train employees on the hazards they face and the controls in place
Report any dangerous situations or safety concerns to your supervisor immediately

DON'T start any work activity without a risk assessment being in place
DON'T assume generic risk assessments cover site-specific hazards — review them
DON'T ignore your duty as an employee to follow safety procedures and report hazards
DON'T employ young workers or new starters without assessing their specific risks
DON'T fail to coordinate safety with other employers when sharing a workplace
DON'T appoint unqualified persons to advise on health and safety compliance
DON'T keep risk assessments locked away — they must be accessible to workers
DON'T neglect to review assessments after incidents, near misses, or changes on site
DON'T treat risk assessment as a paper exercise — it must inform how work is done
DON'T forget that MHSWR duties apply to all employers, regardless of company size

See also: CDM 2015 Awareness | HSWA 1974 Awareness

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