Does the law apply to me?

How do I know if the law applies?

The law will apply if:

How do I know if I create a risk to others?

Think about the types of activities you undertake as part of your work and ask yourself if they pose a risk to the health or safety of others.

You have a duty to protect yourself and others from the risks your work creates, even if this is only for a small part of your overall work activity. However, in practical terms, if you are self-employed you will not have to do anything where there is no risk to others.

Can other people be affected by your work activities? If so, think about the services that you provide to them, in particular:

If the answer is yes to any of above, then it is likely that your work activities may pose a risk to the health and safety of another person and the law will apply to you.

Examples - does the law apply to me?

It is impossible to list all work activities undertaken by the self-employed, the examples below of a range of self-employed jobs are illustrative and will help you determine the types of jobs that do or don't create risks and whether or not they are likely to be exempt from health and safety.  

Updated 2021-04-28