This is the fourth edition of HSE’s most popular guidance book. Essentials of health and safety at work is easy to use and will help you prevent workplace accidents and ill health and comply with the law.

Packed with sound advice to put you on the right track, it covers the whole range of workplace hazards. Having the basics at your fingertips couldn’t be simpler – and if you need more detailed information, it points you in the right direction.

This new edition has been expanded to include:

• new chapters on slips and trips, work at height, contractors and agency n workers, and general fire safety;
• new sections on stress, rehabilitation and sickness absence;
• a focus on special groups – young people, the disabled, non-English speakers, n new and expectant mothers, and lone and mobile workers;
• a new subject index (printed version only).

This book is great value if you’re starting up or running a small business, preparing a company safety policy or have been appointed as a trade union safety representative, but whatever line of work you’re in, it will help you run a safe and healthy workplace – and that makes good business sense.

Essentials of health and safety at work – one of the most useful books you’ll ever buy.

Visit Essentials of Health and Safety at Work Download Page

You can download Essentials of Health and Safety at Work in PDF format.

This is a free-to-download, web-friendly version of Essentials of health and safety at work (Fourth edition, published 2006). This version has been adapted for online use from HSE’s current printed version.

You can buy the book at www.hsebooks.co.uk and most good bookshops.

INTRODUCTION
Why read this book?
Health and safety management should be a straightforward part of managing your business as a whole. It involves practical steps that protect people from harm and at the same time protect the future success of your business.

There are legal health and safety requirements that you have to meet, but accidents also cost money and time – people off work, material costs and damage to buildings, plant or product. These costs are often not covered by insurance.

This book explains what the law requires and helps you put it into practice.

What are the main causes of ill health and accidents at work?
Every year over 200 people are killed at work and several hundred thousand more are injured and suffer ill health.

The biggest causes of days off work sick are aches and pains such as back problems (see Chapter 12) and stress (see Chapter 19).

The most common causes of serious accidental injury at work are slips and trips (see Chapter 3).

The most common causes of death from accidents are falls from a height (see Chapter 5) and being struck by vehicles in the workplace (see Chapter 11).

The law and guidance
There are two main kinds of health and safety law. Some is very specific about what you must do, but some, such as the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act), is general, requiring you to do what is ‘reasonably practicable’ to ensure health and safety. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has produced publications (many available to view at www.hse.gov.uk) to help you to decide what this means in practice.

Information about useful publications and websites is given in a ‘Find out more’ section in each chapter. Priced publications have an ISBN number. HSE leaflets are free for a single copy, but are sold in priced packs for multiple copies.

This book
Chapter 1 suggests how you can tackle the basics of health and safety. It tells you how to identify, assess and control the activities that might cause harm in your business.

Chapters 2 to 25 are for anyone who needs to know more about a particular subject. Each chapter tells you what you need to do to work safely as well as what laws apply.

Looking at your business in the way this book suggests will help you stay safe. It will go a long way to satisfying the law – including the risk assessment that you must do under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. It might save you money as well!

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment