The Law around heath and safety training is quite tight and offers little room for escaping from protection and no looking after employees. The main law is the Health and Safety at Work etc Act of 1974. This requires a person who owns a company to provide information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to make sure, so far as is reasonable practible the health and safety at work of your employees.
This act essentially states that you should do everything that is reasonable to ensure that no accidents can happen in your work place.
This is expanded and added to with the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation of 1999. This act looks into the essential areas where training is needed, such as when people begin work, start a job they have never done before or are at risk because of exposure to a new job or work environment. This also covers areas where existing skills are considered rusty and need updating.
The law also states that you must provide the employees with training, however this training can't be outside of the hours of work, and should not be charged to your employees. You must also provide special arrangements for part time workers or workers who work unsociable hours.
When you conduct your business you must look into the risks of the business to employees and look into people who may be affected by the way you conduct your business. This allows you to identify certain areas and take charge of them, thereby limiting any problems for the future and making your business safe for work and health. This includes training and the provision of information to employees.
Most employees can't provide such information n off their own bat and need to bring people into help them. Ideally you should look into hiring a current employee to do the work. However, if no one in house is trained to do so, then you may bring someone in to do the work.
Another important acts are The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 and the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996. These state you must get in touch with employees and ask them about safety issues. Representatives you discuss such matters with are entitled for time off with pay when they fulfil these training duties. Learners work experience is also covered under The Health and Safety (Training for Employment) Regulations of 1990.
You should also note that by law, anyone who is working under you as a self employed person is subject to the same health and safety rules as any full time workers. This means you have to take appropriate action to ensure they are catered for.
Obviously laws are subject to change with time, as are situations and so you should try and ensure you keep up with the,. However, following such rules ensures your business adheres to Health and Safety law.
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