General duties of manufacturers and suppliers

Section 6 of the Act focuses attention on the role of the producer of products used at work, and includes designers, importers and hirers-out of plant and equipment in the list of those who have duties under it. The section refers to articles and substances for use at work, and requires those mentioned to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that articles and substances are safe when being used in the widest sense. They must be tested for safety in use, or tests are to be arranged and done by a competent authority. Information about the use for which an article or substance was designed, including any necessary conditions of use to ensure health and safety, must be supplied v4th the article or substance. 

Since the introduction of the Act, section 6 has been modified so as to apply to fairground equipment, to provide a more complete description of the kinds of use an article may be put to, and to ensure that necessary information is actually provided and not merely made available , as was originally required. 

Hire purchase companies are not regarded as suppliers for the purposes of section 6. An interesting provision requires anyone installing an article for use at work to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that nothing about the way in which it is installed or erected makes it unsafe or a risk to health when properly used. This obviously holds consequence for the construction industry, as the provision over-rides any contract provision or exclusion. 

Section 9 forbids the employer to charge his employees for any measures which he is required by statute to provide in the interests of health and safety. In particular this refers to the provision of personal protective equipment, which is to be provided following the results of risk assessment in particular cases. 

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