UK ESH Spring Webinar Health and Safety Updates 2020 Tuesday 21 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

UK ESH Spring Webinar Health and Safety Updates 2020 Tuesday 21 April 2020 9:30 – 11 a.m.

Welcome & Introduction Gary Lewis Director, Manchester T +44 161 830 5373 E gary.lewis@squirepb.com Robert Biddlecombe Senior Associate, Birmingham T +44 121 222 3629 E robert.biddlecombe@squirepb.com Bethany Thompson Associate, Manchester T +44 161 830 5220 E bethany.thompson@squirepb.com squirepattonboggs.com 2

Employer’s health and safety duties during the COVID-19 pandemic Rob Biddlecombe

Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974  Duty on employers to ensure so far as reasonably practicable the health and safety of employees at work and non-employees (contractors, members of the public, etc.) who may be affected by employer’s undertaking.  The key to compliance is reducing the risk to as low as reasonably practicable.  Duty on employees to take reasonable care of their own and co- workers’ health and safety, and to co-operate with employer on health and safety matters.  Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999  Duty on employers to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks posed to employees at work and non- employees arising out of employer’s undertaking.  Employer’s duty to put in place arrangements for planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of health and safety measures.  Employer to obtain competent health and safety assistance.  Employer to provide information on health and safety matters to employees. squirepattonboggs.com 4

Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020  Closes restaurants, canteens, cafes, bars and public houses during the emergency period – limited exceptions.  Closes other businesses including gyms, sports courts, soft play areas, etc.  Restrictions on movement – no person may leave the place where they live without reasonable excuse, including:  to travel for the purposes of work where it is not reasonably possible for that person to work from home. squirepattonboggs.com 5

Government Guidance  www.gov.uk/coronavirus  Following guidance is evidence that you are reducing the risk to as low as reasonably practicable. squirepattonboggs.com 6

HSE Guidance  www.hse.gov.uk/news/coronavirus.htm squirepattonboggs.com 7

Homeworking  Coronavirus Regulations require people to work from home where reasonably possible  No requirement for DSE assessment for temporary working from home  Risk assessment. https://www.iosh.com/media/1507/iosh-home-office- mobile-office-full-report-2014.pdf  Mental health squirepattonboggs.com 8

Vulnerable employees  People who are very vulnerable (e.g. solid organ donor recipients, people with specific cancers, people with severe respiratory conditions, etc.) should rigorously follow social distancing advice.  Received letter advising them to stay at home at all times for 12 weeks (“shielding”)  People who are increased risk (e.g. aged 70 or over, have underlying health conditions or are pregnant) should be particularly stringent in observing social distancing measures. squirepattonboggs.com 9

Taking on new employees  May be needed if expanding production or making new products  More people looking for work?  Competence – especially for those in safety-critical work  Training, instruction and supervision  Absences?  PPE  Work equipment  Do contractors have own H&S management systems in place?  Due diligence squirepattonboggs.com 10

Post-Grenfell fire safety update Rob Biddlecombe

Background  14 June 2017.  72 deaths – largest loss of life in a residential property since Second World War  70 injured  Devastated local community  Wider loss of confidence in high rise housing squirepattonboggs.com 12

Hackitt Review  Independent review looking at current Building Regulations and fire safety, particular focus on high-rise residential buildings (separate to public inquiry).  Final report published May 2018 – current system for ensuring fire safety in high rise and complex buildings is not fit for purpose.  Recommendations include:  New regulatory framework focussed on multi-occupancy higher risk residential buildings (10 storeys or more).  New Joint Competent Authority to oversee better management of safety risks in HRRBs.  Clear and identifiable dutyholder with responsibility for safety of entire building.  Dutyholder to present safety case to JCA regularly.  Mandatory incident reporting mechanism for dutyholders with safety concerns.  Clearer rights and obligations for residents to maintain the fire safety of individual dwellings (working with dutyholder).  Power for JCA to act as regulator for fire and structural safety of whole building and fine dutyholders. squirepattonboggs.com 13

The Building (Amendment) Regulations 2018  In force from December 2018.  Ban on the use of combustible material in the external walls of buildings over 18m in height which contain:  One or more dwellings;  An institution (e.g. care home); or  A room used for residential purposes (does not include a room in a hostel, hotel or boarding house).  Covers apartments, hospitals, care homes, dormitories in boarding schools, sheltered housing and student accommodation.  Ban covers all of the material in the walls, not just the cladding.  Materials used now need to be Euro Class A2-s1, D0 or Euro Class A1.  Does not apply to:  buildings where building work started before or within 2 months of 21 December 2018; or  new hotels, hostels, and boarding houses which are over 18 metres in height. squirepattonboggs.com 14

ACM or Non-ACM?  May 2018 – UK government committed to £400m to pay for councils and housing associations to replace aluminium composite material cladding in 158 tower blocks owned by local authorities and social housing providers.  May 2019 – Further £200m allocated towards the cost of removing and replacing ACM cladding from 170 privately owned tower blocks.  Quotations for remediation have typically been in the £4m-£5m range and the £200m averages out at about £1.2m per building - shortfall.  Also, funds not available for combustible non-ACM cladding.  Potential for landlords to recover costs from tenants as part of service charge:  Rectifying inherent defect?  Complying with laws – Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. squirepattonboggs.com 15

Public Inquiry  Led by Sir Martin Moore-Bick  Phase 1 Report (focusing on the events on the night of 14 June 2017) published January 2020 and recommended new legal duties on owners and managers of high-rise residential buildings to:  inform local fire and rescue services about the design and construction of external walls and about any material changes made to them;  provide fire services with up-to-date building plans;  draw up and test evacuation plans;  test any lift systems designed for use by firefighters on monthly basis and report test results to the fire service;  issue all residents of their buildings with easy-to-understand fire safety instructions;  fit alarm systems that allow the emergency services to issue an evacuation warning to all or part of the building; and  conduct three-monthly inspections of fire doors.  Phase 2 now underway (focusing on design and construction of building, refurbishment, warnings from local community, local authority response, etc.) squirepattonboggs.com 16

January 2020 – New Measures Announced (1)  Immediate establishment of the Building Safety Regulator.  Based on Hackitt recommendation  Will oversee the design and management of buildings, with focus on higher-risk buildings.  Will have a range of sanctions and enforcement powers (inc. prosecutions).  To begin in ‘shadow’ form until established under legislation (Building Safety Bill).  Updated guidance for building owners on building safety  Issued by Independent Expert Advisory Panel.  Measures cover the use of aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, external wall systems and fire doors. squirepattonboggs.com 17

January 2020 – New Measures Announced (2)  Consultation on extending the combustible cladding ban – ends April 2020.  Including hotels, hostels and boarding houses within the scope of the ban.  Lowering the height threshold of the ban from 18 to 11 metres above ground level.  Banning the use of metal composite materials with a polyethylene core in and on external walls and in specified attachments in all buildings, regardless of height.  Extending the ban to include solar shading products, including but not limited to blinds and shutters.  Information about the forthcoming Fire Safety Bill.  Clarify that building owners or managers of multi-occupied residential buildings of any height are required to consider fully and mitigate the fire safety risks of any external walls and front doors to individual flats.  Affirm Fire and Rescue Services' power to enforce locally against building owners who have not remediated unsafe ACM cladding. squirepattonboggs.com 18