Health and Safety in the Workplace
Your health and safety
You have the right
to:
·
work in
places where all the risks to your health and safety are properly controlled;
·
stop working and leave the area if you think you
are in danger;
·
be
consulted on matters related to your health and safety at work;
·
inform
your employer about health and safety issues or concerns;
·
contact HSE or your local authority, if you
still have health and safety concerns, without getting into trouble;
·
join a trade union and be a safety
representative;
·
paid time off work for training if you are a
safety representative;
·
a rest break of at least 20 minutes if you work
more than six hours at a stretch and to an annual period of paid leave;
·
suitable and sufficient toilets, washing
facilities and drinking water;
·
adequate first-aid
facilities.
You must:
·
take care of your own health and safety and that
of people who may be affected by what you do (or do not do);
·
co-operate with others on health and safety, and
not interfere with, or misuse, anything provided for your health, safety or
welfare;
·
follow the training you
have received when using any work items your employer has given you.
Employer
responsibilities
Your employer must:
·
tell you how to do your job safely in a way that
you can understand, and tell you about the risks to your health and safety from
current or proposed working practices;
·
tell you how any risks will be controlled and
who is responsible for this;
·
consult and work with health and safety
representatives and employees to protect everyone from harm in the workplace;
·
tell you how to get
first-aid treatment and what to do in an emergency.
Your employer must
provide, free of charge:
·
training to enable you to do your job safely;
·
any equipment and protection necessary for you
at work (such as clothing, shoes or boots, eye and ear protection, gloves,
masks etc) and ensure it is properly looked after;
·
health checks if there is a danger of ill health
because of your work;
·
regular health checks
if you work nights and a check before you start.
Your employer must
provide you with the following information:
·
the health and safety
law poster (www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/lawposter.htm
), which must be displayed in a prominent place, or as an alternative, they can
provide each worker with a copy of the equivalent pocket card. This should give
the contact details of people who can help;
·
their health and safety policy statement;
·
an up-to-date Employers’
Liability (Compulsory Insurance) certificate (www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hse40.htm
) visible in your place of work.Published by the
Health and Safety Executive 04/13 INDG450
What to do if you are
concerned about your health and safety
For advice, visit www.hse.gov.uk/workers/
, or to complain, visit www.hse.gov.uk.
For employee rights, visit the Trades Unions Congress (TUC) workSMART website at www.worksmart.org.uk
, or alternatively you can ring the Pay and Work Rights Helpline
on 0800 9172 368.
For information about health and safety in a range of
different languages, visit www.hse.gov.uk/migrantworkers/
.
This leaflet can be
found at www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg450.htm
.