Legal duties of employers
Employers have a legal obligation to protect the health and safety of their employees and other people who might be affected by what they do. Some health and safety regulations are particularly relevant to dealing with back pain in the workplace:
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 regulation 3 requires that all employers assess the risks to the health and safety of their employees while they are at work.
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (as amended) (MHOR)require an employer to carry out a risk assessment on the manual handling tasks that pose a risk of injury
- Health and Safety ( Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 as amended (DSE Regulations). Some users of visual display units may get aches and pains, including back pain. The regulations set out what employers need to do if their employees are habitual users of DSE. Specific advice on DSE and the DSE regulations.
- Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 : regular long-term exposure to Whole Body Vibration (WBV) is associated with back pain. The regulations require an employer to take actions to protect persons against risk to their health and safety arising from exposure to vibration at work. More information can be found at the HSE’s vibration website.
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