Health and Safety at Work
According to the Health and Safety Executive in the UK in 2022/23 138 people were killed at work, with 1.8 million people suffering work-related illness and approximately 561,000 injuries occurring at work. Work-related illness and workplace injury resulted in 35.2 million working days being lost in 2022/23. Therefore preventing accidents and ill health caused by work must be a key priority with safe and healthy working becoming second nature to everyone.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASAW) (2005 in Ireland) is the main piece of UK health and safety legislation, placing a duty on all employers “to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare, at work, of all their employees”.
Your employer is responsible for identifying both hazards (a potential danger in your workplace) and risks (the likelihood of the hazard causing real harm) and will have completed risk assessments to put procedures in place to manage them. An example may be that there is a danger of you slipping on ice whilst out on deliveries in the winter and the likelihood of that causing real harm identified as reasonably high, so you may have been advised to ensure you wear appropriate footwear with a strong grip as a precaution.
As an employee you have the following rights and responsibilities under the HASAW act.
Employee rights:
- As far as possible, to have any risks to your health and safety properly controlled.
- To be provided with any personal protective and safety equipment free of charge.
- To stop work if you have reasonable concerns about your safety.
- To tell your employer about any health and safety concerns you have.
- To have rest breaks during the working day and annual paid holiday.
Employee responsibilities:
- To take reasonable care of your own health and safety.
- To take reasonable care not to put other people (fellow employees and members of the public) at risk by what you do or don’t do in the course of your work.
- To co-operate with your employer, making sure you undertake training and you understand and follow the company’s health and safety policies.
- Not to interfere with or misuse anything that’s been provided for your health, safety or welfare.
- To report any injuries, strains or illnesses you suffer as a result of doing your job, your employer may need to change the way you work.
- To tell your employer if something happens that might affect your ability to work, for example becoming pregnant or suffering an injury.
- If you drive or operate machinery, you have a responsibility to tell your employer if you take medication that makes you drowsy or compromises your ability.
It is important to familiarise yourself with the following health and safety policies in your pharmacy:
- Manual handling
- COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health)
- First aid regulations
- Fire safety