Has Health and Safety in flats gone mad?

Ultimately the aim of Health & Safety legislation and guidance is to reduce the number of people killed, injured or made ill at work. However, it goes further than that as good management of Health & Safety will reduce the potential for accidents and inevitable claims. Also, it will reduce the potential for anyone responsible for the block ending up in prison and/or a hefty fine.

‘How on earth can Health and Safety Legislation apply to a block of flats’?

The internal and external communal areas of residential blocks can be deemed to be a place of work and therefore needs to be safe for residents, visitors and contractors who work within them. Health & Safety legislation and guidance places specific duties on those responsible for the premises to provide instructions and information on the risks these people may face within these areas.

To clarify – the responsible person is whoever has control over the premises. This is generally the Managing Agent, the RMC or the Landlord. In order to fulfil these duties the responsible person should have a system to manage their Health & Safety and arrange for the communal areas of the block to be risk assessed for general health and safety risks as well as the more specific risks from fire, asbestos and water hygiene. These risk assessments will have action plans with details of any hazards and timescales for any remedial works to be dealt with.

As a consequence of ignoring these duties in the event of an accident or incident the responsible person could end up in court and the judge will decide where liability rests based upon evidence that will include the management of health & safety in the premises. So, if you think you are responsible for a premises, resist the urge to turn a deaf ear as Health & Safety for you has not gone mad. If you find yourself making excuses or avoiding the issue, take your head out of the sand, don’t sit on your hands – as ignorance is no defence.