Acts,Regs,ACOPS,Guidelines.

paddy carr

paddy carr

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There is a myriad,of so called H&S regulation out there, however. What is actually law, and what is Regs,Acops and Guidelines :-

ACTS

•Acts of Parliament are laws made by the UK Parliament. Proposals for new laws (Bills) are debated by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. If both Houses of Parliament vote for the proposals then the Bill is ready to become an Act.
HASAWA 74
Is a example of a Act of Parliament.

Regs.

•A regulation is a legislative act of the European Union which becomes immediately enforceable as law in all member states simultaneously. Regulations can be distinguished from directives which, at least in principle, need to be transposed into national law.

Some relevant Regulations:-

WAHR 2005
COSHH
RIDDOR
CDM
ASBESTOS
LOLER
REACH
PUWER

ACOPS

The HSE Act allows for the development and approval of statements of preferred work practice, known as "approved codes of practice".

These are recommended means of compliance with the requirements of the Act, and have been developed after consultation with the industry or industries concerned. They are approved by the Minister of Labour after consultation with affected groups and individuals.

A code of practice applies to anyone who has a duty of care in the circumstances described in the code - which may include employers, employees, the self-employed, principals to contracts, owners of buildings or plant, and so on.

An approved code does not necessarily contain the only acceptable ways of achieving the standard required by the Act. But, in most cases, compliance will meet the requirements of the Act, in relation to the subject matter of the code.

An approved code does not have the same legal force as a regulation, and failure to comply with a code of practice is not, of itself, an offence. However, observance of a relevant code of practice may be considered as evidence of good practice in a court.

This is where the grey area setts in, especialy on TG &SG from the NASC, it is not law,however, failure to try and meet these parameters, if the sh1t hits the wirly blade, could be shown as not following 'ACOPS' ie, TG20:08, SG4:05 (soon to be SG4:10) and whatever other priced SG (Safety Guidance) material is issued.

Guidelines


A guideline is any document that aims to streamline particular processes according to a set routine. By definition, following a guideline is never mandatory (protocol would be a better term for a mandatory procedure). Guidelines are an essential part of the larger process of governance.
Guidelines may be issued by and used by any organization (governmental or private) to make the actions of its employees or divisions more predictable, and presumably of higher quality.

I hope i have tried to clear the 'Muddy waters' a bit. Some H&S officers will lead you to believe it is a 'Act' or a 'Reg' when in fact it is just a 'ACOP' or a 'Guideline'.

Regards
Paddy
 
all bu!!**** by my definition . i feel less safe the more im told to change the way i work . always get the feeling that the rules and regulations are made by some one that has never done the job or is scared of heights
 
Finer said:
It is worth pointing out that one can be prosecuted for not following the industry guidance within the above acops. (Despite them not being law.)

These acops are accepted as being the "minimum" standards that must be adhered to and following them is no certainty of avoiding prosecution under current UK H&S Law/Legislation/Regulations.

If these acops set out above are not being followed within the respective contractor/operative's processes and procedures, the former must demonstrate that they are following "alternative" acops that are either equal to; or better than, the industry accepted acops, if required to defend themselves in a court of law.

Regards

Finer.
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Finer i concur with your post totally, in my post this is idendentified also, the reason for my thread, is to try and involve and introduce some of the 'SME's to the sometimes, 'No common sense approach' to H&S by H&S Officers that quote this and that as 'Law' when in fact it isnt.
 
paddy carr said:
Finer i concur with your post totally, in my post this is idendentified also, the reason for my thread, is to try and involve and introduce some of the 'SME's to the sometimes, 'No common sense approach' to H&S by H&S Officers that quote this and that as 'Law' when in fact it isnt.
Click to expand...

Finer said:
Spot on there Paddy..............they also like to bring out the "It is all down to interpretation!" When you actually identify there misquotes and mistakes!:D
Click to expand...

The subject did come up at the meeting with hse, Ragscaff will no doubt have the details posted shortly but the hse did agree you can find your own solutions if you have a sufficiently robust risk assessment and method statement, also as we are already too aware the mc can ask us or demand us to take any steps he feels necessary to keep his particular site accident free. As mentioned on loads of earlier posts on other threads the problems begin should anything go wrong using any other method than those used as best practice. Either way, the scaffold contractor is for the high jump but the best way to reduce any possible liability is to use one of these acop's.
 
Thought it was Regs and Acops.thats what i was told on NEBOSH
 
paddy carr said:
TG = Technical Guidance, TG20:08 NASC produced Document.
SG= Safety Guidance, SG4:05 etc NASC Document

These Docs are not Law, however, Acops, The WAHR 2005,is 'Law' it's all in the wording:eek:
Click to expand...

The docs are guidance it's in the name.
 
Hi Guys, first real post - so be gentle....

Paddy is essentially correct in what he says in that the "law" is strictly Acts (primary legislation) and Regulations (secodary legislation).

Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs) are written by the HSE under instruction from the Secretary of State as a guide to on how to practically implement legislation and whilst they are not law they are accepted by the courts as demonstration of legal compliance if you follow them. The alternative is your own system of work that is equally effective.

All well and good - however the Work at Height Regulations do not have an ACoP - HSE declined to produce one as the scope of WAH was considered too wide to be covered by a single ACoP.

This means that we need to refer to guidance - which is the next stage in the legal hierachy - HSE's own guidance is considered the best - and is often (but not always) well written and mostly practical - this carries considerable weight in legal proceedings and many courts refer to it as authoritive and give it virtually the same weight as ACoPS.

The next step down is technical guidance written by British Standards and trade associations such as NASC - not legally binding as has been correctly stated, but well considered by the courts.

However - you need to be aware of some of the subleties of the WAH Regs - specifically schedule 3 part 2 - additional requirements for scaffolding.

This is how TG20:08 fits into the law - and it's really important for all of you guys chucking up scaffold.

Below is the relevent extract taken from

The Work at Height Regulations 2005

Additional requirements for scaffolding

7. Strength and stability calculations for scaffolding shall be carried out unless—

(a)a note of the calculations, covering the structural arrangements contemplated, is available; or.

(b)it is assembled in conformity with a generally recognised standard configuration..

8. Depending on the complexity of the scaffolding selected, an assembly, use and dismantling plan shall be drawn up by a competent person. This may be in the form of a standard plan, supplemented by items relating to specific details of the scaffolding in question.

9. A copy of the plan, including any instructions it may contain, shall be kept available for the use of persons concerned in the assembly, use, dismantling or alteration of scaffolding until it has been dismantled.

The really important bit is section 7b - because the "generally recognised standard configuration" is TG20:08. It used to be BS5973 however this was superceded by BS12811 (the newish British Standard from about 5 years ago). The problem with BS12811 is that for the layman (and I include myself) the important bits of it are gibberish as they talk about limit state design principles for scaffolds.

Hence TG20:08 was written as the ******* son of the old BS5973 which is now accepted by HSE (and the courts) as the standard for all scaffolding unless it has been designed - hence the requirement by HSE to work in accordance with its requirements. It is also quite differnt in many places from the old British Standard and any scaffolding company really needs to have a good working knowledge of its requirements before you even take tube off the truck.

Please note the other sub clauses - the requirement for "an assembly, use and dismantling plan" - method statement and the requirement for that plan to be available to persons erecting or dismantling the scaffold.

The devil is in the detail and the detail is above - this is the law - and it gives TG20:08 a very special status in regard to the Work at Height Regs.

SG4:05 is similar in that it translates the schedules in the WAH Regs in a workable solution for the scaffolding industry. This is tied into the other schedules in the regulations and principally regulation 6 - Avoidance of Risks from Work at Height.

The other bits of Schedule 3 part 2 are really important and I will reproduce them here for the sake of completeness - just so that you all know what the law is - and remember these are from the regulations so they are law.

10. The dimensions, form and layout of scaffolding decks shall be appropriate to the nature of the work to be performed and suitable for the loads to be carried and permit work and passage in safety.

11. While a scaffold is not available for use, including during its assembly, dismantling or alteration, it shall be marked with general warning signs in accordance with the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996(1) and be suitably delineated by physical means preventing access to the danger zone.

12. Scaffolding may be assembled, dismantled or significantly altered only under the supervision of a competent person and by persons who have received appropriate and specific training in the operations envisaged which addresses specific risks which the operations may entail and precautions to be taken, and more particularly in—

(a)understanding of the plan for the assembly, dismantling or alteration of the scaffolding concerned;.
(b)safety during the assembly, dismantling or alteration of the scaffolding concerned;.
(c)measures to prevent the risk of persons, materials or objects falling;.
(d)safety measures in the event of changing weather conditions which could adversely affect the safety of the scaffolding concerned;.
(e)permissible loadings;.
(f)any other risks which the assembly, dismantling or alteration of the scaffolding may entail.

If I'm teaching any of you to suck eggs I apologise and I hope that you find the post helpful at unmuddying the waters.

All the best

Otto:cool:
 
Thanks Otto for a very informative post

I look forward to your input to the forum

__________________________________________________________

"12. Scaffolding may be assembled, dismantled or significantly altered only under the supervision of a competent person and by persons who have received appropriate and specific training in the operations envisaged which addresses specific risks which the operations may entail and precautions to be taken, and more particularly in—

(a)understanding of the plan for the assembly, dismantling or alteration of the scaffolding concerned;.
(b)safety during the assembly, dismantling or alteration of the scaffolding concerned;.
(c)measures to prevent the risk of persons, materials or objects falling;.
(d)safety measures in the event of changing weather conditions which could adversely affect the safety of the scaffolding concerned;.
(e)permissible loadings;.
(f)any other risks which the assembly, dismantling or alteration of the scaffolding may entail."

________________________________________________________________________________________________

I wish that the P.C. and the HSE took notice of this part and acted to enforce it

Regards Rigger
 
Well said Paddy,

At the moment there are no ACoPS for Working at Height.
Will HSE be producing an Approved Code of Practice on the new Work at Height Regulations 2005?
There are no plans at present to release an ACOP for the new Work at Height Regulations. However, specific industry sectors within the HSE may produce their own specific guidance. This is in discussion at the moment.

Ken Cain
 
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