Psychological or physical capacity

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 reg 19(2)(a)

Work beyond psychological or physical capacity

Psychological capacity

What is the risk?

In the majority of jobs there is no difference in the kind of mental and social skills used by young people and adults. Although you should bear in mind that there will be large individual differences in the psychological capacity of young people, based on differences in their training, experience, skills, personality and attitudes.

However, there are some areas of work that could be beyond a young person’s mental and emotional coping ability, such as dealing with violent and aggressive behaviour, and decision making in stressful situations.

How to avoid the risk

Your risk assessment should focus on critical tasks which rely on skill, experience and an understanding of the task requirements.

You should provide young people with training and effective supervision, particularly where they might be:

• using machinery with exposed dangerous parts, eg food slicing machinery;
• potentially exposed to violent or aggressive behaviour.

Physical capacity

What is the risk?

Accidents, injuries and/or musculoskeletal disorderscan occur in jobs that require repetitive or forceful movements, particularly when combined with awkward posture or insufficient recovery time.

Young people may not be physically capable of driving or operating machinery designed for adults and they may not have the strength to operate the controls with ease. Agriculture has special features which need to be taken into account.

How to avoid the risk

You should:

• take account of the physique and general health, age and experience of the young person in your assessment;
• provide training and effective supervision.