Proposal to amend Article 3 (3) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989.

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A decision made (14/12/2007) regarding: Proposal to amend Article 3 (3) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989.

Decision Reference: MD-S-2007-0087
Decision Summary Title :	Proposal to amend Article 3(3) of the Health and Safety at Work(Jersey) Law, 1989.		Date of Decision Summary:	14th December 2007
Decision Summary Author:	Colin Myers Director of Health and Safety		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title :	Proposal to amend Article 3(3) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989.		Date of Written Report:	14th December 2007
Written Report Author:	Colin Myers Director of Health and Safety		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Proposal to amend Article 3(3) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989
Decision(s): The Minister agreed to the proposed amendment to the Law and instructed that the drafting instructions be forwarded to the Law Draftsman’s Office.
Reason(s) for Decision: To clarify the legal requirement for the preparation of a written health and safety policy to include the arrangements for risk assessments.
Resource Implications: There are no implications for the finance or manpower resources of the States
Action required: The Director of Health and Safety to forward the drafting instructions to the Law Draftsman’s Office to be dealt with as a minor item
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Proposal to amend Article 3 (3) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989.

Proposals to amend Article 3(3) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989.

1. Introduction

During the consideration of bids for items to be included in the 2007 Legislation Programme, the Minister agreed to seek amendments to Article 3(3) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989. The amendment is intended to clarify the requirement for employers, with 5 or more employees, to prepare written assessments of significant risks to their employees.

Agreement was subsequently obtained from the Law Draftsman in December 2006 that the proposal could be dealt with as a minor matter, outside of the agreed Legislation Programme for 2007.

This report sets out the background to the reason for the proposed amendment and requests the Minister to agree to the drafting instructions, which have been prepared, to be forwarded to the Law Draftsman’s Office.

2. Background

2.1 Risk assessment

The key to the successful management of health and safety in the workplace is through the assessment of risks and the implementation of appropriate and proportionate control measures to ensure that such risks are controlled to an acceptable level.

This risk assessment process is a legal requirement under the general duties set out under the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989, through the legal interpretation of the phrase “so far as is reasonably practicable”. Although guidance has been published by the Inspectorate in an attempt to explain the legal position, it is still apparent that the lack of the specific phrase “risk assessment” leads to confusion amongst duty holders and, as a consequence, failure to carry out appropriate assessments in the workplace.

This confusion is compounded by the fact that specific regulations identifying the need to carry out risk assessments, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which implement a European Directive, have been introduced in the UK.

2.2 Proposed amendment to Article 3(3) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989

Article 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989, sets out the duty on employers to ensure their employees’ health, safety and welfare at work, with Article 3(3) of the Law requiring employers with 5 or more employees to prepare a written health and safety policy. The written policy must include a statement of general policy together with the organisation and arrangements for carrying out that policy.

In effect, the requirement for employers to set out the arrangements for carrying out the general policy should include the arrangements for carrying out risk assessments but, in order to overcome any misunderstanding that employers may have, it is proposed to clarify this requirement by amending Article 3(3) to include the wording ‘risk assessment’. It is stressed that this does not include any new requirement, but will clarify the existing requirement under the Health & Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989; leading to an improved understanding and management of health and safety risks that may be present in the workplace.

3. Recommendations

The Minister is asked to confirm his agreement to the proposed amendment to Article 3(3) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey), Law, 1989, and for the drafting instructions which have been prepared in connection with this matter, to be forwarded to the Law Draftsman’s Office.

Colin Myers

Director of Health and Safety

14 th December 2007

Social Security: 14th December 2007

File No.3/1

Colin Myers