The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Work at Height) Regulations 2006 came into force on 21 June 2006. 'Work at height' means work in any place from which an employee could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. Potentially any work above ground level can be 'work at height' and the necessary precautions specified in the regulations would need to be taken.

The employer must ensure that work at height is properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe. This requires the proper selection of work equipment, the carrying out of an appropriate risk assessment and planning for emergencies and rescues.

Bearing in mind that a fall from a relatively low height has the potential to cause serious injury, all work at height must be properly assessed. A number of less obvious tasks covered by the regulations would include the use of a kick stool or step ladder in a stock room, using trestles and ladders to paint or clean, and changing lamps or ceiling tiles. More obvious examples include working on the back of a lorry to sheet a load and working close to an open excavation or cellar trap door.

The basic principle is to avoid work at height wherever possible. If this cannot be done, then the responsibility is to prevent falls from height and to reduce the consequences of any fall. Any action taken should be proportionate to the risk of harm and should reflect what is reasonably practicable.

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Control of Noise at Work) Regulations 2006 came into force on 13 July 2006. If employees are likely to be exposed to risks to their safety and health arising from exposure to noise, the employer must make a 'suitable and appropriate assessment of the risk arising from such exposure'. The risk assessment must be carried out by a competent person and its findings recorded in the safety statement.

The primary method of prevention is the elimination or reduction of noise at source. This may require the modification of methods of work or a reconsideration of the choice of work equipment and the design and layout of places of work. If the risks arising from exposure to noise cannot be prevented by other means, then properly-fitting individual hearing protectors must be made available to the employee.

The level of daily noise exposure has been reduced from the level it had been under the 1990 regulations. This makes the employers' obligations more onerous and may mean that more businesses are affected by the provisions of the new regulations.

The introduction of a number of new health and safety regulations within a short space of time has given employers much to contemplate. Within the next month or so, the new 'general application regulations' will come into force, thus requiring a further
re-examination of work practices.

Employers, and others, need to be proactive and ensure that they are fully conversant with the new regulations. They should take the time now to assess how the new rules may impact on their business. Any changes that can help create and maintain a safe workplace must be made immediately and should not be put off to a later date.

Winter 2006.