Site safety law, duties and signs

Core idea

Health and safety law assigns duties rather than relying on signs alone. Employers must plan, assess and control work; workers must cooperate, use controls correctly and report defects. Topic-specific rules then address equipment, substances, lifting and reportable events. A sign communicates a control but does not replace removal, guarding, ventilation or training.

What to recognise

• COSHH assessment considers hazardous substances, exposure routes and effective controls.
• PUWER covers suitability, maintenance, guarding and competent use of work equipment.
• LOLER applies to lifting operations and lifting equipment, with planning and examination duties.
• RIDDOR covers defined reportable events; internal incident reporting can be broader.
• Red prohibition, blue mandatory, yellow warning and green safe-condition signs convey different actions.

Apply it

For a dusty cutting task, identify the material and exposure, choose a method that reduces dust at source, provide suitable extraction or respiratory protection, check equipment and brief the worker. Posting a warning sign at the doorway may support the control, but it does not make an uncontrolled process safe.

Keep the boundary clear

Only the responsible person submits a statutory RIDDOR report, but everyone should use the employer’s reporting route. Do not label every near miss RIDDOR-reportable: compare the facts with the defined categories while still investigating and correcting non-reportable incidents.