Understanding Terminology - Part 1

“Absolute” “Practicable” and “Reasonably Practicable”

When applying health and safety legislation to your organisation.

Absolute Duty

In this blog we are going to look at some of the terminology used in health and safety legislation and ask the question:

Based on the terminology used in health and safety legislation, what do I need to do to ensure my company complies with the Law?

For each section, a practical example of how the terminology can be applied to a work activity and the legislation associated with the activity will be given.

Examples used are:

1.   The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at Work Regulations 1992 – Absolute Duty.

2.   The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) – Practicable.

3.   The Work at Height Regulations 2005 – Reasonably Practicable.

Let’s start with the terminology which defines specific terms to establish compliance standards for legal obligations.

Terms like:

• Absolute

• Practicable

and

• Reasonably practicable

Absolute duties require full compliance, while practicable duties mandate compliance if technically feasible and the “so far as is reasonably practicable” standard allows for risk assessment and the opportunity for your organisation balance risk against cost, time, and effort.

Absolute Duty:

It shall be the duty of an employer to…

If the law states \”shall,\” \”must,\” or \”will,\” there is no alternative but to comply. Non-compliance constitutes a breach of statutory duty and cannot be defended in court by citing cost, time, or inconvenience.

A good example of this is the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at Work Regulations 1992 which states that:

” Every employer shall ensure that suitable personal protective equipment is provided to employees who may be exposed to a risk to their health or safety, except where such risk has been adequately controlled by other means which are equally or more effective.”

This is an absolute duty and as an employer must provide PPE for employees if a risk exists. Compliance is mandatory, and cost, time, or effort cannot be used as justification for non-compliance and failure to PPE should a task or work activity require it.

Failure to provide PPE would be as breach of the statutory duty and therefore an offense.

It’s worth noting that the PPE regulation also states that:

“except where such risk has been adequately controlled by other means which are equally or more effective.”

If you can eliminate the hazard at source, PPE may not be required, and you would do this though applying the hierarchy of control which states that:

“Priority is always given to the collective measure, and PPE is always a last resort.”

Remember that collective measures to eliminate hazards will eliminate the hazard for all employees in the workplace, not just the person undertaking the task.

PPE only ever protects the wearer and as a last resort, if PPE fails, it always fails to danger.

The Hierarchy of Control

Summary

• Absolute Duty: Requires full compliance with no exceptions, even if it’s costly or time-consuming.

• Practicable Duty: Mandates compliance if technically feasible, considering factors like cost and time.

• Reasonably Practicable Duty: Allows for risk assessment and balancing risk against cost, time, and effort.

• PPE as Last Resort: PPE is the last resort for hazard control after exhausting all other options.

• Hierarchy of Control: Prioritise collective measures over PPE for hazard elimination.

• Collective Measures vs. PPE: Collective measures protect all employees, while PPE only protects the wearer.

At Yorkshire Health and Safety, we build strong relationships with clients based on communication, collaboration, commitment, trust and aligning with your key safety performance goals.

With over 30 years’ experience delivering successful projects for clients and working with clients’ principal contractors, we know the challenges that come with delivering successful projects, be it commercial, industrial, construction manufacturing, housebuilding, refurbishment, shopfitting and office interiors.

If you require further assistance with any of the topics raised in this post or assistance with current or future projects, please get in touch.

Yorkshire Health and Safety