What are your Health & Safety duties as an employer (UK)?
Let's keep this simple: UK health and safety law says you must protect people from harm "so far as is reasonably practicable." In practice, you reduce risks until the extra time, trouble and money to cut them further would be grossly out of proportion to the extra risk reduction you'd get. That idea is known as ALARP ("as low as reasonably practicable").
ALARP in real life — what the courts have said
1) Edwards v National Coal Board (1949) — the ALARP yardstick
The story: A mine roadway wasn't properly supported because it would have cost money. It collapsed and a worker died.
What the judges said: You must balance risk against the time, trouble and money to control it. If the cost is grossly out of proportion to the risk reduction, you don't have to do it. But the employer couldn't show that—so they lost.
What this means for you:
- Identify the risk, list sensible controls, and do them unless the cost/effort is clearly way out of proportion to the safety benefit.
- Keep a short note showing that balance—this is you showing risks are ALARP.
2) R v Chargot Ltd [2008] UKHL 73 — "show your working"
The story: After a fatality, the company argued the prosecutor hadn't said exactly what they should have done.
What the judges said: Prosecutors only need to show there was a real (material) risk from your work. If you claim you did everything reasonably practicable, you must prove it.
What this means for you:
- Don't rely on "we're careful" or "that's industry practice."
- Have evidence: risk assessments, training records, maintenance logs, supervision records, and monitoring results. If it's not written down (or recorded), it's hard to prove.
3) Baker v Quantum Clothing [2011] UKSC 17 — judged by knowledge at the time
The story: Workers were exposed to noise. The question: what was reasonable given what employers knew or ought to have known then?
What the judges said: "Reasonably practicable" tracks the state of knowledge at the time. Standards move as guidance and science evolve.
What this means for you:
- Keep an eye on HSE guidance, Approved Codes of Practice, British/ISO standards, and industry alerts.
- When guidance changes, review your controls and record what you changed and why. That paper trail shows you're keeping pace with knowledge.
Who you must protect (and how)
The HSWA splits your core duties into two big buckets:
1) Your workers
Under section 2 HSWA, you must ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of your employees. In practice that means things like a safe system of work, safe plant, training, information, supervision, and a safe workplace.
What "good" looks like for workers (in plain terms):
- Do and keep risk assessments and put sensible controls in place.
- Give information, instruction, training and supervision suited to the job.
- Keep plant/kit safe and maintained.
- Provide welfare (washing, toilets, drinking water) and first aid.
- Consult your workers (or their reps) on health and safety.
(See HSE's plain-English checklist for employers.)
2) Other people affected by your work (contractors, suppliers, visitors, the public)
Under section 3 HSWA, your duty extends to anyone who could be harmed by what you do — not just your staff. That covers contractors and suppliers working on your site, visitors, customers, delivery drivers, and members of the public nearby. You must manage risks you create or control.
What "good" looks like for non-employees:
- Plan work with contractors/suppliers: agree hazards, controls, site rules, and emergency arrangements before work starts.
- Co-operate and co-ordinate where you share a workplace, so nobody's system undermines anyone else's (this flows from the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations).
- Induct visitors and contractors: brief, control access, supervise where needed.
- Design public-facing areas to keep the public away from harm (segregation, barriers, traffic routes, signage).
"But it's their job, not mine" — responsibility when suppliers/contractors are involved
It's often both. If work happens on your premises or under your control, you still have duties for risks your undertaking creates — even if a contractor is doing the hands-on work.
Contractors have their own duties too, so the law expects joined-up management (information sharing, co-operation, co-ordination, and checking competence). HSE's contractor guidance makes this crystal clear. If you send your people to someone else's site, you must still protect them (section 2), and the host must protect people their undertaking affects (section 3). That's why sharing risk information and site rules both ways matters.
A practical compliance to-do list (employer edition)
- Identify your hazards and assess risks. Write it down, review it, and focus on controls that work in practice. (This underpins ALARP.)
- Apply the "reasonably practicable" test: for each significant risk, choose controls where the effort and cost aren't grossly disproportionate to the risk reduction. Keep the notes that show how you decided.
- Put controls in place and keep them working (maintenance, supervision, monitoring).
- Train and inform people (including contractors) and check they've understood.
- Co-operate and co-ordinate with other employers on shared sites; agree who does what.
- Record what you've done. If you ever need to show it was "reasonably practicable," your paper trail (or digital trail) is your friend.
Bottom line
If you: (a) understand your risks, (b) choose controls that are reasonably practicable, and (c) keep them working while coordinating with anyone you share a workplace with — you're doing exactly what the law expects. And you'll have the evidence to show it.
References (authoritative sources)
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (general duties; "so far as is reasonably practicable"). Legislation.gov.uk
- HSWA s.3 – duties to non-employees (public, visitors, contractors). Legislation.gov.uk
- HSE: ALARP (at a glance) — what "reasonably practicable" means in practice (and where Edwards v NCB comes from). HSE
- R v Chargot [2008] UKHL 73 — risk-based duties and proving "reasonably practicable." Wikipedia
- Baker v Quantum Clothing [2011] UKSC 17 — duties judged against the state of knowledge at the time. Supreme Court UK
- HSE: Managing contractors / Using contractors — joint responsibilities, co-operation and co-ordination. Legislation.gov.uk
- HSE: The basics for employers — practical checklist (risk assessment, information/training, first aid, etc.). Legislation.gov.uk