Legal responsibilities of engineers and tools to meet them

Howard Wheeler's talk, Legal Responsibilities of Engineers and Tools to Meet Them, explains how UK regulations impose legal obligations on everyone at work from employees to employers, mainly under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It also highlights that there are additional and significant obligations for those involved with the manufacture, design, installation, commissioning, maintenance, importation and distribution of equipment, noting that engineers frequently become involved with one or more of these roles at some point in their career. The talk deals with the most common of these obligations and how British Standards can assist engineers in meeting them, including discussion of CE and UKCA marking and how these relate to European law. Interaction and questions will be encouraged.

The talk will look at key areas including:

·          The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
·          Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98)
·          Handling risks and risk assessments
·          CE and UKCA marking
·          Product specific regulations (e.g. for machinery, electrical equipment, radio etc)
·          British Standards and how they relate to regulations