Fire Environmental Safety Law - Essay Example

FIRE ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY LAW Student’s Name Course Tutor Date Fire environmental safety law Introduction A furniture restoration workshop is definitely covered by a number of legislations under the UK laws. Since the work at the workshop involves spray painting, upholstery and lacquering there is the possibility of production of solid wastes, hazardous wastes and air pollutants. The workshop is prone to fire because some of the materials being used for furniture restoration catch fire easily. The owner of the business has one employee and laws covering employees will definitely come in. Due to the nature of the business and the activities taking place there the employer is expected to abide by certain environmental, fire safety and health and safety laws that will be discussed in this report. Relevant legislations include the Clean Air Act 1993, Revised WFD (Directive 2008/98/EC, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988/1989, 1993 and 2010 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA) (British Law, 2012). The Clean Air Act (1993) or Clean Air Northern Ireland 1981 order This piece of legislation was enacted to control the pollution of air and to regulate emissions into the air. It is regulated by the UK Environment Agency. It protects human health as well as the environment from emissions which could pollute outdoor air. This law applies to the furniture restoration business because of the spray painting and lacquering that could probably release sprayed particles into the air. Based on this law the business must comply with the minimum standards of pollution set by the Environment agency especially the primary standards that provide public health protection (British Law, 2012). In case the employer knowingly violates the Act’s requirements and prohibitions he will be fined depending on the magnitude of the crime or be imprisoned for up to 5 years. If he tampers with equipment used for monitoring, falsifies documents or fails to report he will be jailed for 2 years. Recidivists get twice the statutorily authorized penalties for those breaking the law for the first time. If the furniture restorer does not pay any fee he owes the UK government under this Act he will be fined or be jailed for over one year. The punishment for recidivists will be doubled (Environmental protection UK, 2012). Releasing hazardous air pollutants as stipulated in the Clean Air Act 1993 or a substance that is extremely hazardous that could put another person in danger of serious harm on the body or death can make the person who made the release to be fined or be jailed to up to a year. Whether the defendant knew that violating the law put another person in danger of serious harm of the body or death is dependent on the actual belief possessed or his actual awareness. If a person close to the defendant had information it will not be charged on the defendant. However any circumstantial evidence such as if the defendant shielded himself from information could be classified as actual knowledge (Environmental protection UK, 2012). Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA) This act gives the correct definition of waste in the UK context, establishes legal duty of care, lays out the offences of wastes, sets out duties of relevant authorizes such as environment agency, and waste collection and Disposal Authorizes and establishes licensing system of waste management. The Environment Agency in the UK (EA) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have been given the responsibility of regulating the legislation Legislation.gov.uk, (2012). The act requires that no person should treat, dispose or keep controlled waste in a way that can cause environmental pollution or harm the health of people. This is in section 33 (1)(c). it requires that no body should deposit controlled waste or allow the depositing of controlled waste to be done on land without a waste management license that gives authority for the deposit and that the deposit is done according section 33 (1)(a). No person should treat, dispose or keep controlled waste or allow controlled waste to be kept, treated or disposed of on land or by way of a mobile plant except where a waste management license is applicable (Tromans 1991, pp 67). Revised WFD (Directive 2008/98/EC It is also called the Waste Frame work Directive and it creates a framework for waste management throughout the European Community. This directive has some fundamental principles for management of wastes. It requires that those producing wastes should manage it without causing danger to the health of people and the environment, including soil, air, water and animals. Wastes should not cause nuisances through odours and noise and it should also not affect country side areas or certain places where there is placed special interest (Environmental protection UK, 2012). The directive requires that priority be given to prevention of wastes and recovery and re-use be encouraged. Wastes should be disposed of or recovered in a controlled manner and every waste handling activity must be permitted. Waste carriers should be registered and the waste holder should be able to bear the cost for the disposal of wastes based on the polluter pays principle (Environmental protection UK, 2012). UK regulatory authorities do not use a combative approach when seeking for compliance. When a manufacturer or dealer seems to be working towards compliance local authorities are always sympathetic to such a person. Where there is no progress being seen the authorities are allowed to serve the businessman with an enforcement notice which requires the person to comply within a set time period. Failing to comply could cause him to be prosecuted especially in a Magistrate’s court and be fined up to £20,000. The chances of such a case being taken to the crown court in which fines could be without limits is increased by the size of the offence and the size of the company involved in the offence (British Law 2012). Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, is also called HSW or HASAW is the basic legislation that covers occupational health and safety within the United Kingdom. The Act is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive. It is used to ensure the safety of workers from harmful activities and hazardous exposures at the place of work. It also establishes the maximum limits of exposure for hazards at the workplace. Under this legislation, the furniture restorer should provide a safe work place that does not have serious recognized hazards. A hazard is known if within the industry it is known or if it can be recognized by a reasonable person. The employer should do inspection at the place of work and act to reduce or eliminate hazards that are recognizable (Mackay 2004). The business man must provide work place safety information and training to his employer. He should notify his employer about safety regulations at the work place and give him equipment and training that can enable him to remain safe. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 laws the employer should put a poster in strategic places in the place of work. He should train the employee on how to handle and operate machinery at the work place. The employee should also be provided with protective gear such as protective eye goggles, helmets, hearing protection and hard toe shoes. Under employee can file a complaint about the safety and health of the work place. The penalties are executed when there is a violation of the Act. A criminal penalty will be issued when the standards are willfully violated and the violation has caused the death of an employee. The violator is jailed for a maximum of 6 months in such a case (Mackay 2004). Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988/1989, 1993 and 2010 This piece of legislation is regulated by the trading standards department in the UK. The law ensures that upholstery composites and components used on furniture sold in the UK meet some specified resistance levels to ignition and are labeled suitably. The regulations have six major elements. Filling materials should be able to meet certain specified ignition requirements. Composites for upholstery should be resistant to cigarette fire. The covers should be resistant to matches. There should be fitted a permanent label on every piece of furniture. Manufacturers of furniture must ensure that furniture when supplied does not have foam fillings made of block or crumb polyurethane or latex rubber which fails to meet requirements of detailed in schedule 1in the regulations (Fire Safety Advice Center 2011). Furniture should not be supplied if it has non foam fillings which are not meeting the requirements in schedule 2 in the regulations. Furniture is not to be supplied if it has upholstery composites which cannot pass cigarette test as shown in schedule 4 in the regulations. Furniture should not be supplied with permanent, stretch or loose covers that cannot pass the match test as detailed in the regulations in section 5. The regulatory reform 2005 requires that fire risk assessment be done in order to take care of risks of fire at the place of work. The regulations require that a responsible person should be the one to ensure that there is a fire risk assessment at the place of work. The person should also to take account of an impact that may be caused by fire to the persons and premises around (Fire Safety Advice Center 2011). Conclusion In conclusion the environmental laws, health and safety and one fire legislation governing the operation of a furniture restoration business in the UK have been discussed. These laws are the Clean Air Act of 1993, Revised WFD (Directive 2008/98/EC, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988/1989, 1993 and 2010 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA). The penalties for violating these laws and their standards include fines and various jail terms depending on the potential of the violation to cause harm and its deviation from the relevant standard. The size of the offence and the size of the company involved matter as well. Bibliography British Law, (2012) (Online) Available at: http://www.britishlaw.org.uk/cit_nus.html Retrieved 11April 2012 Environmental protection UK, (2012) (online) Available at http://www.environmental- protection.org.uk/air-quality-and-climate/air-quality/laws/ Retrieved 11 April 2012 Fire Safety Advice Center (2011) (Online) Available at: http://www.firesafe.org.uk/furniture- and-furnishings-fire-safety-regulations-19881989-and-1993/ Retrieved 12 April 2012. Legislation.gov.uk, (2012) Environmental Protection Act 1990, (online) Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/43/contents Retrieved 11 April 2012 Mackay (2004), Halsbury's Laws of England (4th edn 2004) Vol 20, "Health and Safety at Work" Tromans, S. (1991) Environmental Protection Act, 1990: Text and Commentary. London: Sweet & Maxwell. Read More