Frequently asked questions

Airbag parts may contain a small amount of an explosive material.

The storage of explosives usually requires (depending upon the quantity involved) either a licence or registration certificate from the relevant local enforcing authority, however many operators of garage workshops will find that the total quantity of explosive they are keeping (i.e. the aggregate of the maximum number of airbag and seatbelt pretension parts normally stored) is small enough that it falls within an exemption.

Check with the relevant authority to see what quantity you may keep and still be exempt from the need for either a storage licence or registration.

Yes. UK sprinkler regulations are clear in that any sprinkler head that is affected by paint should be replaced.

Testing carried out on painted sprinkler heads has shown their performance canbecome inconsistent and non-compliant.

Your employees are not expected to fight a fire with an extinguisher if doing so puts them at risk, so why provide them at all?

Sometimes a fire will occur which is detected before it has a chance to grow. At this very early stage, it may be possible for a trained person to extinguish the fire.

More importantly, although your fire risk assessment should have ensured that the premises have adequate safe means of escape there is always a risk that an employee or other person will be trapped by a fire.

An adequate number of suitable maintained fire extinguishers are therefore needed as an emergency aid to escape.

You will first need to establish what permissions, if any, you may need e.g. from a landlord, or planning permission from the local authority (because of the appearance or height to which it will raise the wall or fencing, or the premises are located within a conservation area).

Make sure that any such "toppings" will be clearly visible over their whole length, will all be at well above normal head height and will not overhang any public area, road, pavement or footpath, etc. Warning signs should be considered.

Yes. With a "confirmed" alarm the alarm receiving centre (ARC) can only call police when a second alarm signal is received from a different detection device within a set period of time.

If you have an alarm which only has a telephone line, as a means of communicating with the ARC then if the line is cut before a second signal can be sent then there is no possibility of the ARC calling police.

With dual path signalling systems the equipment usually has at least one method (of transmitting an alarm signal) which does not involve the use of a telephone line (and so has a better chance of being able to send out the second "confirming" signal.

Make sure that you tell your insurance broker if you are proposing to make changes to your intruder alarm.

Visit the UKLPG website for information about the supply and return of cylinders, including a list of brands and their contact details so that you can get advice about cylinder recovery.

If you have cylinders containing a gas other than LPG, you should contact the company that owns it (their name should be somewhere on the cylinder). Further advice is available from the BCGA website.

Whenever possible, jobs at display screens should be designed to consist of a mix of screen-based and non-screen-based work to prevent fatigue and to vary visual and mental demands. If this isn't possible (because the job is solely about data or text entry requiring sustained attention and concentration), deliberate breaks or pauses must be introduced.

Where the display screen work involves intensive use of the keyboard, any activity that would demand broadly similar use of the arms or hands should be avoided during breaks. Similarly, if the display screen work is visually demanding any activities during breaks should be of a different visual character. Breaks must also allow users to vary their posture.

Exercise routines which include blinking, stretching and focusing eyes on distant objects can be helpful and could be covered in training programmes.

Airbag parts may contain a small amount of an explosive material.

The storage of explosives usually requires (depending upon the quantity involved) either a licence or registration certificate from the relevant local enforcing authority, however many operators of garage workshops will find that the total quantity of explosive they are keeping (i.e. the aggregate of the maximum number of airbag and seatbelt pretension parts normally stored) is small enough that it falls within an exemption.

Check with the relevant authority to see what quantity you may keep and still be exempt from the need for either a storage licence or registration.

There is no legal maximum temperature but a comfort range between 19ºC and 23ºC should be adequate.

Where the temperature in a workroom would otherwise be uncomfortably high (due to hot processes or the design of the building, for example) all reasonable steps should be taken to achieve a reasonably comfortable temperature. This might include insulating hot plant or pipes, providing air-cooling plant, shading windows, and sitting workstations away from places subject to radiant heat.

Where a reasonably comfortable temperature cannot be achieved throughout a workroom, local cooling should be provided. In extremely hot weather, fans and increased ventilation may be used instead of local cooling.

If, despite the provision of local cooling, workers are exposed to temperatures which don't give reasonable comfort, suitable protective clothing and rest facilities should be provided. Where practical, there should be systems of work (for example, task rotation) to ensure that the length of time for which individual workers are exposed to uncomfortable temperatures is limited.

The temperature in workrooms should normally be at least 16ºC unless much of the work involves severe physical effort in which case the temperature should be at least 13ºC.

These temperatures may not, however, ensure reasonable comfort, depending on other factors such as air movement and relative humidity.

A child is a person who is not over the Minimum School Leaving Age (MSLA) which is fixed at the last Friday in June of the school year (1st September to 31st August) in which the child reaches the age of 16.

A young person is someone who is under the age of 18 and above the minimum school leaving age (MSLA; fixed at the last Friday in June of the school year (1 September to 31 August) in which the child reaches the age of 16).

To put it more simply, a young person is aged 16 or 17 years old; In July and August there will also be 15-year-olds (who will turn 16 within those months) that also fall under the definition of 'young person', rather than child.

Your employees are not expected to fight a fire with an extinguisher if doing so puts them at risk, so why provide them at all?

Sometimes a fire will occur which is detected before it has a chance to grow. At this very early stage, it may be possible for a trained person to extinguish the fire.

More importantly, although your fire risk assessment should have ensured that the premises have adequate safe means of escape there is always a risk that an employee or other person will be trapped by a fire.

An adequate number of suitable maintained fire extinguishers are therefore needed as an emergency aid to escape.

You should visit the 'How to make a RIDDOR report' page on the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) website to get up-to-date details about the process for reporting accidents.

The following pages on our website can provide more guidance about when you should make a RIDDOR report:

You will first need to establish what permissions, if any, you may need e.g. from a landlord, or planning permission from the local authority (because of the appearance or height to which it will raise the wall or fencing, or the premises are located within a conservation area).

Make sure that any such "toppings" will be clearly visible over their whole length, will all be at well above normal head height and will not overhang any public area, road, pavement or footpath, etc. Warning signs should be considered.

Yes. With a "confirmed" alarm the alarm receiving centre (ARC) can only call police when a second alarm signal is received from a different detection device within a set period of time.

If you have an alarm which only has a telephone line, as a means of communicating with the ARC then if the line is cut before a second signal can be sent then there is no possibility of the ARC calling police.

With dual path signalling systems the equipment usually has at least one method (of transmitting an alarm signal) which does not involve the use of a telephone line (and so has a better chance of being able to send out the second "confirming" signal.

Make sure that you tell your insurance broker if you are proposing to make changes to your intruder alarm.

Employers must provide appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) to their employees, alongside training to ensure it's used correctly, wherever there is a risk to health and safety that cannot be adequately controlled by other means.

Employees are duty-bound to wear/use the PPE provided as instructed.

In any company and at any premises or work site, the number and type of first aid personnel should be based on an assessment.

We've listed examples of factors to be considered on our risk topic page:

Visit the UKLPG website for information about the supply and return of cylinders, including a list of brands and their contact details so that you can get advice about cylinder recovery.

If you have cylinders containing a gas other than LPG, you should contact the company that owns it (their name should be somewhere on the cylinder). Further advice is available from the BCGA website.

Where any organisation has at least one paid employee, it is considered to be an 'employer' for the purposes of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act and the regulations made under it.

Both employers and the self-employed have duties to assess and control (by implementing appropriate preventative and protective measures) the risks to anyone who may be affected by work activities, including volunteers.

In general, the same health and safety standards should be applied to voluntary workers as they would to employees exposed to the same risks. However, if the assessment shows that the hazards to voluntary workers are different, the measures taken should reflect those differences.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) considers it good practice for an individual or organisation using volunteers to provide the same level of health and safety protection as they would in an employer/employee relationship, irrespective of whether there are strict legal duties.

By law (Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 section 2(3)) if you employ five or more people you must have a written health and safety policy.

This contains your statement of general policy on health and safety at work and the organisation and arrangements in place for putting that policy into practice.

The significant findings of a risk assessment need to be recorded by an employer if they employ five or more employees.

However, we recommend that even if you have less than five employees that you do make a written record as it may be useful should a liability claim be made against you, the business or an employee.

Ladders are not banned by the Work at Height Regulations (WAHR), but ladders should only be considered where a risk assessment has shown that the use of other, more suitable, work equipment is not appropriate because of the low risk and short duration of the task, or due to considerations about where the work is located.

Schedule 6 of the WAHR deals with the requirements for ladders.