22nd December 2014
HSE Releases 3 Revised ACOP’s
The HSE has recently released updates to 3 Approved Codes of Practice (ACOP’s). These Codes are important in that they have a special legal status. If you are prosecuted for a breach of health and safety law, and it is proved that you did not follow the relevant provisions of the Code, you would need to demonstrate that you have complied with the law in some other way or a Court would find you at fault.
Safe Use of Lifting Equipment (L113)
This Approved Code of Practice and guidance is for those that work with any equipment provided at work or for the use of people at work, those who employ such people, those that represent them and those people who act as a competent person in the examination of lifting equipment.
It sets out what you should do to comply with the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER).
LOLER applies to lifting equipment and builds on the requirements of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER).
This edition brings the document up to date with regulatory and other changes. The guidance clarifies which equipment is subject to the provisions of the regulations and the role of the competent person.
The context and examples have been expanded to show that LOLER applies across every sector using lifting equipment. New examples show the impact on the health and social care sector.
Safe Work in Confined Space (L101)
This Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance is for those involved in work within confined spaces, those who employ or train such people and those that represent them.
It explains the definition of a confined space in the Regulations and gives examples. It will help you assess the risk of working within a particular confined space and put precautions in place for work to be carried out safely.
This edition brings the document up to date with regulatory and other changes. The guidance has been simplified to make the understanding and use of the document easier, particularly with clarifying the definition of a confined space.
Other changes include:
- a flowchart to help in the decision-making process
- additional examples including new workplace risks such as specifically created hypoxic environments, fire suppression systems etc
- amendments relating to the need to check, examine and test equipment
Safety of Pressure Systems (L122)
The Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (PSSR) cover the safe design and use of pressure systems. The aim of PSSR is to prevent serious injury from the hazard of stored energy (pressure) as a result of the failure of a pressure system or one of its component parts.The revised PSSR ACOP and guidance is aimed at duty holders under PSSR who are involved with pressure systems used at work. It is for users, owners, competent persons, designers, manufacturers, importers, suppliers and installers of pressure systems used at work.Since the last edition, the ACOP and guidance have been updated for clarity. The content has not been radically changed, as it was fit for purpose. The main changes to this publication are as follows:
- the decision tree on whether PSSR applies has been moved to the front of the book and explanatory notes have been added to it, to help readers decide if PSSR applies to them or not
- a new Appendix has been added to provide clarity on how to apply PSSR in a proportionate manner to small pressure vessels in schools
- the section on the legal background to PSSR and related legislation has been removed as it was out of dateThe Regulations themselves have not changed at all, so duty holders’ responsibilities remain unchanged.
