Health and Safety Executive Inspectors - Report Example

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Health and Safety Executive Inspectors A mention of the environment attracts attention to the initial thoughts of the beautiful occurrences of nature. However, this beauty is just a memory that one can hold onto, considering the human activities and other forces that have negatively interfered with the environment. The legal body responsible for watching over the environment in the United Kingdom is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It is a legal government body that is non-departmental and headquartered at Liverpool. HSE is the body charged with the responsibility of encouraging, regulating and enforcing health, safety and welfare at the work place (Laughery 467). Essentially, it is concerned with environmental safety but with more emphasis on the condition under which humans work. It therefore, relates its operations to structural composition and setup, workplace conditioning and safety measures incorporated. Environmental issues refer to the aspects of the natural environment that are either a result of environmental forces or inflict effects to the environment when some external force is applied. Some of these issues include; climate change, conservation of energy, pollution, land use and degradation, overpopulation and environmental degradation, just to mention a few. Discussion on environmental issues is a vital element of the society since the subject is a common factor whose interest is shared amongst all. This is because environmental issues affect all, from individuals to organizations, industries and the nations. In the construction industry, the impacts are even more evident. The natural environment is essential for life; construction enhances civilization and industrialization which makes life easier (McQueen, Construction in a Fragile World: Environmental Issues Review and Checklist). This essay, therefore, introduces and explores the environmental issues in relation to health and safety at workplaces, industries, the environmental effects relative to responses, powers and actions of HSE as mandated by corresponding Acts. Powers of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Inspectors As a legally instituted body, the HSE is charged with responsibilities that are worth mentioning before evaluating the powers that the inspectors have bestowed upon them by virtue of section 20 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. In terms of functionality, the executive has the duty of assisting and encouraging persons concerned with matters in connection with the operations and goals of the HSE at work. It also makes arrangements that enhance and support research and publication, guidance relative to its work (Ferguson et al. Effective Design of Workplace Risk Communications). It is a non-departmental institute and therefore, is at an optimised position to arrange for security of other government departments, employees, employers, organizations and the information or advisory services important to the government on such matters. The executive also proposes regulations, keeps the secretary of state, who’s the head, informed of its plans and also employs qualified personnel in its line of work. The last item of responsibilities shows a sense of powers that the body needs to have. HSE Inspectors get appointments from an enforcing authority within the Health and Safety Executive, who have extensive powers to oversee the implementation and effecting any of the relevant statutory provisions. The executive has the power to require the production of any relevant documents from a business premise for inspection. If it is the only body charged with the responsibility of ensuring work place safety, then it is necessary that it ensures that operating premises are certified and within the law in their operations. This power ensures that the body is able to demand for any relevant documents and thereby ascertain that operating business is legal, certified and allowed to operate. However, the power becomes misused if the executive personnel use it to obtain unnecessary document from business premises for their own personal interests. Vested with such power, the structuring assumes that the inspectors remain competent, open, trust worthy and relevant in executing their duties and powers (Health and Safety Executive 1). The executive has the power to involve anyone they deem relevant to provide them with information, in a question answering session, where the person also appends their signature on a declaration of truth to answers given. This power almost put the body to the same level as the regular police, although, it correct that the executive polices certain policies of the government. Nevertheless, power to involve anyone violates the rights of the public especially when the person engaged is picked by mistaken information. In some sense it puts the public at the mercy of these inspectors especially when the power is used to undermine or frustrate personal enemies. Such a power means that the executive can almost pick anyone on the streets, which makes it uncomfortable for the public when it gets to levels of harassment or even sexual abuse. When misused, the victim perceives it as an arrest yet without a warrant alongside exposure to questioning that looks more like an interrogation. Notwithstanding these, if the power is executed properly and lawfully, the executive remains friendly to the public which will be able to see their positive intentions. With this the executive is able to gather much necessary information to ensure health and safety of employers, employees and clients. Much more relevantly, the executive inspectors have a constitutional power to seize and make harmless any substance considered with reasonable basis to be hazardous and able to cause personal harm (Mathews et al. 155). By extension, this power allows the inspectors to evaluate the substances, articles, materials, structures, equipment or machinery that human workers come into direct contact with at their workplaces. With reasonable grounds that such endanger the lives of all at the workplace, the inspectors then follow the right procedures to seize and make it harmless. However, there is emphasis that making the item harmless should be done even by destruction if necessary. This power signifies or justifies the whole essence of inspection which is to ensure health and safety. A part from destruction of items rendered harmful according to their analysis and examination, the executive has to educate and provide information on how to proceed with harmless forms of the same (Health and Safety Executive 1). In relation to the previous power, the executive is also bestowed with the authority to enter any premises considered necessary, for purposes of enforcing the health and safety work act and other provisions. In most cases, business owners find it offensive for anyone to enter their premises without their consent especially if it is the government, even if they have the right to do so. However, care has to be taken in execution of this power since it prohibits forceful entry into one’s premises. In addition, an inspector can only enter the premises during the working hours and not when it is closed lest it becomes breaking in. The idea behind the power is that the inspectors can visit any workplace premises at time during working hours without requiring permission from the owners and without any notices. This helps to get a look at the normal daily operations with which accurate evaluations and documentations can be done. The constitutional Acts under which the body was established gives the executive powers to command orders for closure of areas to be left undisturbed. Most of the cases that make this necessary include the institution’s requirement to take measurements, recordings, sampling, and photographs and possibly take possession (Mathews et al. 155). It is all about ensuring safety and health of humans and the work place. This power makes work easier for the inspectors given that they would not require permission from the business owners to carry out such exercises. Notice to the business owners, employers and chief officers of operations and permission from them would only make the work more difficult and probably give the wrong impression of what really happens. Most of the health hazardous substances or products and harmful conditions at the work place or business premises result from poor item maintenance, lack of working gear, environmental degradation and poor disposal of waste products. Waste Produce Disposal According to HSE, waste products are the inessential end products of any stage of the production process. The materials used for production are obtained by processing raw materials that are mostly available naturally. These processes undergone by these materials produce waste products should be managed and controlled effectively. The collective environmental impacts of all component materials can be quite adverse if the waste products are not well managed and controlled. The effects can be as serious as destruction of natural systems and habitats, degradation of ecosystems and fragmentation of population. Reduction of waste production can be achieved by implementing policies for waste minimization like reducing resource consumption, reuse and renewal of materials and recycling resources where possible (American Bureau of Statistics 1). Energy Consumption and Efficiency Most of energy sources are non-renewable elements. Energy consumption affects the environment by depletion of these resources, and emission of gasses, mostly greenhouse. The extent of effect depends on the source of the energy. Business operations and other production processes consume large energy amounts, depending on the business and workplace size and ways of energy uses. However, energy can be efficiently consumed so that most of it is put to feasible use, its consumption is reduced and greenhouse gas emission is also reduced. The design of the building, infrastructure and business operation design determines energy efficiency in a building or workplace, although it varies from residential to commercial buildings. The HSE executes its operations by, among other things, dissemination and availing information and necessary knowledge about health and safety (Wogalter et al. 219). Enforcement Policy and Notices The main objective and aim of the Health and Safety Executive is to protect the health, safety and general welfare of people who are at work. It also aims at safeguarding members of the public who may not necessarily be involved in work but are exposed to risks due to the way in which work is carried out at a place. Effectively, the Health and Safety Executive functions, statutorily, in ways that include proposing new and updated laws or standard to the work and employment sector. It does this by conducting researches, providing information and advice to both government and business operator or workplace employers and managers. Complementarily, it enforces health and safety laws or policies to particularly identified work activities by serving them with improvement or prohibition notices. The government has the Regulators’ Compliance Code and the regulatory principle on which the executive’s the enforcement policy statement relies. This is as required by the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act of 2006 (Health and Safety Executive 1). The policy statement gives insight to the general principles, standards and approaches that health and safety enforcing authorities such as HSE adhere to and follow. Subsequently, all employees, representatives and personnel who take enforcement decisions on behalf of HSE are required to follow HSE’s Enforcement Policy Statement. In general, those staff will be the inspectors who oversee the implementation the executive’s policy. Improvement and Prohibition Notice The Health and Safety Executive has powers to issue improvement and prohibition notices under sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974 (Health and Safety Executive 1). The executive’s inspectors are guided by the Enforcement Management Model (EMM) in deciding whether serving a notice is necessary. The EMM provides a framework for administrative procedures on how to serve the notices and the circumstances that call for the notices. There are particular conditions for issuing a valid notice; through an online publication, the Health and Safety Executive gives these conditions and procedural processes: 1. Before serving a notice you should be of the considered opinion, based on reasonable grounds, that the chosen form of notice (improvement or prohibition) is justified. You should also: Ensure that before issuing a notice you have gathered any evidence which may not be available after issuing it, i.e. when people may not wish to cooperate with you. You may wish to take photographs of site conditions and possibly statements; Decide whether the information available is strong enough to support the notice if the duty holder appeals. 2. You must consider whether a notice will survive an appeal. Normally it will be sufficient if: You have complied with the requirements for that type of notice, as set out in the Act; You have acted reasonably in serving the notice; The wording of the notice is sufficiently clear. Any breach of the law, remedial action, and date for compliance, should be clear from the words of the notice; The notice is properly served. 3. Tribunals will usually find that you have acted reasonably in serving the notice if: You have ensured that you have enough information, at the time of service, to form the opinion required; You have had regard to the relevant HSE policies, have followed any Directorate procedures and guidance, and your decision is consistent with the Enforcement Policy Statement. 4. The suggested methods for compliance contained in the notice schedule should be unambiguous but still allow that there may be other methods of compliance. The duty holder should be able to tell when they have achieved the standard required for compliance rather than the emphasis being placed on the HSE inspector to approve the steps taken (1). Additional Powers to HSE The government of United Kingdom gives HSE powers additional to those discussed earlier, as justified and qualified by the general duties of the inspectors. These powers are important to both secure compliance with the law and to ensure that those who have duties under it can be accountable for failures in safeguarding safety, health and welfare of employees and the public. There are the enforcement powers that enable the executive to police the implementation of government policies. This power is complemented by administrative directives on how to ensure these policies are adhered to and one way is issuing of improvement and prohibition notices. The enforcement powers also allow the inspectors or the executive in general to prosecute those who go against these standards and policies. Policy enforcement powers are in conjunction with authority and mandate to allocate resources. Nevertheless, the enforcing authority, in this case HSE must have regard to the principles, standards of competence and the objectives published by HSE. This constitutional power gives them authority to maintain a balance between enforcement and other activities including inspection. As indicated by Mathews et al. (155), there are powers regarding discretion and impact of the Human Rights Act. These powers have a wide range but generally relate to matters of one’s discretion as to the conditions and circumstances under which they are exercised. With these powers, the inspector is given the ability to source and get hold of any evidence they require, voluntarily and without recourse to these powers. These powers are to be used mindfully not to interfere with human rights of a person or corporate entity. However, with such powers, the inspector is able to obtain first hand information accurately about the entity and its real operations besides what meets the eyes. The latter is supplementary to the power to require any personnel, employee or employer to serve the executive with any books or documentations required, to be kept under any of the relevant statutory provisions. These books or documentations must be relevantly and necessarily sought to establish to the relevant authorities the purposes of an investigation against the subject entity or employer. Relevance of such materials as books and softcopy or hardcopy is determined by the level of assistance that they provide in helping to decide whether prosecution will be necessary (Health and Safety Executive 1). General views perceive that the law obliges employers, private entities, employees as designers, manufacturers or suppliers of items, products, articles and substances for use at work, with a range of duties regarding health and safety. These duties are expressed as broad general duties in the Health and Safety at Work Act. For necessity of information and enhancing comprehension to the intended public, they are explained in simpler terms and more details in subsidiary regulations. Such regulations are established by the HSE executive for the management of health and safety as well as other specific health and safety issues. In first world countries like the UK, most modern health and safety laws are internationally recognized and apply to many global aspects of the workplace. Such regulations cover industrial sectors such as construction, agriculture, railways, mines and quarries Work Cited American Bureau of Statistics. Year Book Australia. 24 January 2003. Web. 23 July 2013. Ferguson, E., Bibby, P.A., Leaviss, J., Weyman, A. Effective design of workplace risk communications (RR093). Health and Safety Executive Research Report. 2003. Print. Health and Safety Executive. Obtaining evidence using section 20 powers. July 2013. Web. 23 July 2013. Laughery, K.R. Safety Communications: Warnings. Applied Ergonomics, 37. (2006): 467-478. Mathews, Rischard., Mathews, Richard. QC., Ageros, James. Health and Safety Enforcement: Law and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2010. Print. McQueen, K. M. Construction in a fragile world: Environmental issues review and checklist. Little Rock: Perkins & Trotter, PLLC. 2006. Print. Wogalter, M.S., Conzola, V.C. & Smith-Jackson, T.L. Research based guidelines for warning design and evaluation. Applied Ergonomics. 33. (2002): 219-230. Print. Read More