Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Research reports
Recent HSE guidance has included an introductory paragraph which
states:
This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive.
Following the guidance is not compulsory and you are free to take
other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally
be doing enough to comply with the law. Health and safety
inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to
this guidance as illustrating good practice.
However, employers' duties to employees are to be found in both
the criminal and common law. Failure to comply with health and
safety Regulations can result in the criminal prosecution of an
employer by the enforcement authority. However, health and safety
Regulations can also be used to assist an employee bringing civil
proceedings against an employer for a personal injury
arising from work. The availa ble evidence would appear to suggest
that some of the health and safety Regulations which might be
considered most pertinent to the prevention of Work Related Upper
Limb Disorders (WRULDs), e.g. the Health and Safety (Display Screen
Equipment) Regulations and the Manual Handling Operations
Regulations, have probably been examined more often and in more
depth in the civil Courts than in the criminal Courts.
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