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Essay Unit 27 - Understanding Health and Safety in the Business Workplace BTEC Level 3 National Business Student Book 1, ISBN: 9781846906343
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unit 27 health and safety at workplace
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Unit 27:Health and Safety in the Workplace & Conducting Health and Safety
Procedures.
P1
Legal requirements and regulations for ensuring H&S:
Introduction:
In this unit I've been asked to explain the legal requirements and regulations that a business
needs to ensure at workplaces. It’s important for businesses to make sure that all the
employees and people who are coming into the business are safe. I will explain the 8
legislations and I will also choose a business and do some research on that and lastly, I will write
a conclusion about what I've learned in this assignment.
I chose Mcdonalds for this task. Mcdonalds is an American fast food company. It was founded as a
restaurant in 1940. Maurice and Richard Mcdonald are the founders of the company. Its world’s second-
largest fast food restaurant. Mcdonalds has more than 1200 restaurants in UK and they have about
97,000 employers. They serve approximately 3 million people every day.
As it’s a franchise, 70% of the franchises are owned by local businessmen and women who are doing a
great job in maintaining high standards.
Health and Safety legislations:
Management of Health & Safety at work act 1974:
,This act states that the managers need to place duties on employers so they can assess and manage
risks to the other employees. They also need to decide for emergencies and provide appropriate
information about the hazards. They need to give directions to the employees and make sure that the
employees know what they are doing.
For example, in a restaurant, a chef needs to make food and the waiter needs to serve it and those
duties are given to them by their manager. if the manager doesn’t give them their duties, they won’t
know what they need to do and that will lead to bad customer service and customers won’t come back
to the restaurant.
In Mcdonalds, there are certain people on the till and certain people in the kitchen making food. The
manager of Mcdonalds makes sure that everyone knows what they’re doing. He also makes sure that
the cleaners are doing their job properly and there are no spillages on the floor and it’s safe for
customers and for the workers to walk on the floor. Workers also need to make sure that the bulbs,
tables and chairs are clean and up to the standards because customers wouldn’t want to sit on dirty
tables and chairs as it could be unhealthy.
Health & safety at work act 1974:
The health and safety at work implies different duties on the employers. Employers need to protect the
health and safety of the employees, so they feel safe at work. It's very important that employers make
sure that everyone's safe. Employers need to provide a safe place for employers, they need to ensure
that all the equipment is handled carefully, chemicals are stored properly, and the risk assessments are
taken regularly by the employees
For example, if employees don’t feel safe at work, they wouldn’t want to work in that place and
employers can lose workers. Another example is that if the chemicals are not stored properly, that could
lead to many accidents and the companies could shut down.
In Mcdonald’s, the managers make sure that the employees take the risk assessments regularly and they
know everything about health and safety. If the employees don’t know about health and safety, they
won’t know what they need to do to prevent accidents. The employees also know where the fire exits
are so if there’s a fire in the building, they know where they need to go and if there are customers in the
building, they know how to get them out of the building and make sure that they are safe. Another
example for Mcdonald’s is that, they make sure that all the chemicals are away from the food and in the
right place because if they are near the food, they could fall into the food or the fryers and that could
lead to many accidents.
The workplace (health, safety and welfare) Regs 1992:
The employer at the workplace needs to maintain the workplace so that it’s safe and there’s no risk to
health and safety. Certain equipment requires a formal system of maintenance. For example, fencing,
emergency lighting, equipment used for window cleaning, window opening limiting devices, escalators
and moving walkways. Ventilation is also supposed to be supplied at a workplace in the form of fresh air.
For example, if there is no window opening limiting device, people could fall off and get injured. Another
example is that if there’s no fresh air in the building, people who have conditions like Asthma will
struggle to breath and that would affect their health.
,In Mcdonald’s, they ensure the health and safety of the workers and the customers by following the law.
They make sure that all the staff has hair nets on while they are working in the kitchen so the hair don’t
fall into the food as it could influence people’s health. Another example is that they have escalators in
their restaurants for people who struggle to walk up the stairs, so they can use the escalators as it would
reduce the risk of getting hurt. Some people use wheelchairs because they can’t walk so it’s beneficial
for them as well as they can’t take the wheelchair upstairs.
Reporting of injuries diseases and dangerous occurrence regulations 1995:
By law it’s important for employers, self-employed people and people who own a premise to report all
the injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences. It's a legal requirement for all the employers to report
all the incidents no matter how big or small they are and keep a record of everything. The record
includes, reporting all the reportable injuries, dangerous occurrences, illness, specific injuries that last
more than seven days and work-related deaths. It also includes, keeping the records in a file, accident
book, a logbook or a computer. After an accident the person needs to be treated by a first aider and
every workplace is obligated to have a first aid kit
For example, if an employer doesn’t report an accident, the employer can deny the out of work benefits
and medical treatment. Some employers also sack people, so they don’t have to deal with the injury
problems. It's important for the employees to ensure that the accidents have been reported so they can
get medical treatment and the employers can’t sack them.
In Mcdonald’s, they have a logbook where they keep all the records and make sure that all the accidents
have been reported. They also have a policy where customers get compensation if they have an accident
while dining in one of their branches. The accidents in Mcdonald’s normally include, trips and falls,
illness due to improperly made food, burns and wet floors. Mcdonald’s always takes the ownership of
the accidents that happen to the owners, staff, customers, franchisees and operators. People can claim
medical costs and other things and Mcdonald’s will pay them by using their public liability insurance.
Control of substances hazardous to health regulations 1994:
Control of substances hazardous to health provide a framework to help and protect people from health
risks caused by hazardous substances. Some substances like chemicals are used directly in the
workplaces and some arise in the workplaces like dust, waste products and fumes. Employers need to
make sure that the substances that are harmful to the employees are prevented and if that’s not
possible, they are controlled.
For example, if the hazards are not being controlled then the employees will get injured and they could
sue the company and company will have to pay the employee. They would also need to pay for the
medical treatments and out of work benefits. If the company doesn’t have insurance, they could lose a
lot of money. They would also lose employees as if an accident happened to one person, it could happen
to other people as well and that would put people at risk and people would start leaving as they
wouldn’t feel safe at their workplace.
In Mcdonald’s, they carry out assessments to make sure that there are no hazards in the workplace that
can affect the health and safety of people. Their assessment includes, finding the hazard, inform the
people of the hazard and take action to remove the hazard. They also train employees on how to keep
, safe and what precautions are needed. They also have a plan for emergencies, and they provide control
measures to reduce harm to health. The health of the employee is important for Mcdonald’s as they are
the one who work, day and night for them to make sales so they make sure that they don’t use
substances that could be harmful for the employees, employers, customers, managers and contractors.
Electricity at work regulations 1989:
Electricity at work regulations places the duties on the employers, employees and self-employed people
to prevent danger. They need to make sure that the equipment that is being used in hazardous
environments is constructed and protected so it doesn’t become dangerous in extremes of weather,
temperature and corrosive conditions. The law also requires the employers to decide on the frequency
of inspection and testing based on their risk assessment.
For example, there had been many incidents where places caught fire because of the electricity.
Employers need to make sure that at the end of the night all the electricity is off as it can lead to many
accidents and would be harmful for people.
In Mcdonald’s they have their electrical system constructed in a certain way, so it prevents danger. They
also maintain their electrical system. They carry out work on their electrical systems in a way that
prevents danger. They make sure that the employees only work with the electrical equipment if they
have training, experience, knowledge and supervision. In Mcdonald’s they take certain things into
consideration about their equipment like, where it’s used, how often it’s being used, if it’s portable or
transportable, the type of equipment and if the equipment is being used in a harsh environment. If they
find a fault in a product, they disconnect it from the electricity straight away and make sure that no one
ever uses it again by putting a “DO NOT USE” sign.
Display screen equipment regulations 1992:
The legislation places duties on employers with the aim of protecting the employees from the health
risks that are associated with DSE. It's important for employers to ensure the health of the DSE users.
They can do that by providing them free eye tests on a regular basis, training on how to use certain
screens and make sure that the staff is taking regular breaks, so they don’t take too much pressure as it
could affect their health.
For example, if a person is working on a computer and he doesn’t take a break, he could get a headache
and back problems. It's important for staff to take breaks as if they are sat down in one place for a long
time it would affect their mental health. They also need to have regular water breaks to keep
themselves hydrated as they won’t be able to work if they are dehydrated.
In Mcdonald’s, they provide information and training who use and operate the screens. They explain the
risks of DSE on the while they are on training and, also explain how to arrange the workstations safely to
prevent any danger to the health. They also make sure that the staff is taking regular breaks, so they
don’t develop any health problems. The staff is entitled to a 15 minutes break if they are doing 4 hours
shift, 30 minutes for 6 hours and 60 minutes for 8 hours. They provide their employees with a free eye
test every 3 months to ensure that their eyesight is on point and they are not having any problems.
Manual handling operations regulations 1992:
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