Safety legislation, requires provision

The vast majority of safety legislation requires the provision of information to employees. The effectiveness of a safety culture relies heavily upon the quality and standard of the information provided. 

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1568/85, was the first attempt at modem health and safety legislation was which contained the general health and safety duties of employers, provisions for worker representation and requirements for employers in larger enterprises to appoint occupational healdi and safety professionals to advise them on carrying out their responsibilities. Article 26 of Chapter V (echoing Dir.80/1107/EEC) obliges the emplo r to take measures to avoid or minimize the exposure of workers to hazardous agents, wherever this is practicable. In all events the level of exposure must be lower that the level defined as the exposure limit value . 

This is a general requirement covering all plant, which the Act defines as including machinery, equipment and appliances used at work. It does not supersede the more detailed and specific provisions covering certain equipment contained in other legislation, but it applies to all plant used in any work activity, whether or not subject to existing safety legislation. 

The following sections include the relevant sections of the complete Act and indicate those parts of the legislation within the different plant categories to which the inspections provided by the independent engineering inspection companies will conform. It should, however, be appreciated that while the inspections provided will fulfill the statutory requirements for inspection, the actual responsibilities under the various Acts to conform remains the responsibility of the plant owner/user. It must be appreciated that the interpretation of any Act is a matter for the local Health and Safety Inspectorate, who should be consulted at all times if doubt exists as to whether any item of machinery and plant requires inspection to comply with a statutory provision. 

Many rubber products, when exported to the member states of the European Union, must comply with the requirements of the relevant legislation approach. The EU Directives of New Approach and Directives of Sectoral Approach are legislative provisions that must especially be followed. Directives of New Approach confine the requirements to the protection of health, property and environment and the safety requirements. The Directives of New Approach lay down the uniform procedure of approval of conformity. Harmonised European standards, giving detailed specifications of the product, follow these Directives. Detailed requirements are given in the Directives of Sectoral Approach and they have to be interpreted individually. The essential concepts are explained and a review of the most important documents is presented. 

The principles of the Directive should remove the complexity of clinical trial application, authorization and regulation in existing, new, and future Member States. Thus, substantial amendments to protocol that impact on safety of the subjects or where there is a change in the interpretation of data on the IMP must be notified under the legislation underpinning the Directive. This common process will obviate current disparate national procedures that range from a simple notification scheme to a complex authorization proce-dure. Implementation of the Directive cannot be expected to alter national requirements for provision to examiners of Information to Subjects and Informed Consent forms in local languages. 

The easy removeability provision is also specified in the 1996 legislation and was an early requirement in several of the state NiCd battery recycling laws. These provisions were developed at the time when many NiCd battery power tools and appliances did not provide for easy removeability, mainly as a consumer safety measure. Since the early 1990s, however, battery operated tools, appliances and other devices have been designed so that in most cases the batteries are easily removable while still ensuring consumer safety. In fact, many manufacturers of battery powered tools today market replacement battery packs, which are interchangeable in a number of different tools. Only in certain systems such as computer memory backup and medical devices are the batteries permanently installed to avoid system failure. 

Hazardous Substances Act as amended supercedes the earlier legislation this Act is administered by the Consumer Products Safety Commission at present. Other Acts also include precautionary labeling provisions, for example the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Occupational Safety and Health Act, administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration contains provisions for precautionary labeling. Other label requirements of principal interest to the chemical industry are also contained in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, The Toxic Substance Control Act, and the Transportation Act. 

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