1.23 Health and Safety

Question 1

Health and safety act (1974)

Answer 1

It makes sure that employers are responsible for keeping employees and the public safe from risks at work.

Key responsibilities under the Act:

Employers must:
- Provide a safe working environment.
- Maintain machinery and equipment safely.
- Offer proper training and protective equipment.
- Do risk assessments and reduce dangers.

Employees must:
- Follow health and safety rules.
- Use equipment properly.
- Report hazards or accidents.

Example in DT:
In a workshop, the Act ensures things like:

• Guards are on machines.
• Students wear goggles.
• Emergency stop buttons work.
• Dust and fumes are controlled.

Question 2

Control of substance hazardous to health regulation (COSHH) (2002)

Answer 2

Employers need to prevent, reduce or control their workers’ exposure, as well as any workers in the vicinity, to substances that may be hazardous or cause ill health

Hazardous substances include:

• Paints, varnishes, cleaning agents, and adhesives that may be used during work
• Fumes that may be created as a result of a process such as soldering or brazing
• Airborne particles such as dust created by cutting or sanding timber

Question 3

Risk Assessment

Answer 3

A risk assessment is a document that takes into account any risk in the workplace, considers the level of risk, and suggests what precautions should be taken to limit the risk

Question 4

Consumer rights act (2015)

Answer 4

Designed to safeguard consumers from faulty products by giving them certain rights.

• Encourage designers and manufacturers to design products of acceptable/satisfactory quality and fit for purpose in the first place as consumers have automatic rights to replacement or refund if goods are unsafe, defective, etc.
• Provides additional reassurance to the consumer that products are being manufactured as described with safety in mind to satisfy legislation
• Designers must make sure their designs are ‘fit for purpose’ and do what they say they should, otherwise, the consumer has a right to demand a refund, exchange or money back

Question 5

The British Standards Institute (BSI)

Answer 5

The BSI works with industry and government to produce a set of standards to assure consumers that products are well-produced, safe, and fit for the purpose

To display the Kitemark, a product must undergo rigorous testing appropriate to its intended use

Question 6

The lion mark

Answer 6

The British Toy and Hobby Association developed the Lion Mark to show consumers that a toy had been made with quality and safety in mind.

For a toy to display the Lion Mark, the supplier must have signed a Code of Practice which covers toy safety and demands the highest standards of ethics in advertising