Legal registers
What is a legal register?
A legal register is a register of legal requirements that apply to an organisation. The register itself is often produced in the form of a table or a spreadsheet.
An example of a health and safety legal register (using typical data fields and four selected statutes) for a small office-based company (employees visiting the sites of others to provide consultancy services) is provided below:
Statute or Statutory Instrument | Year | Statutory Instrument No. | Application | Compliance Status |
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 | 1974 | – | Applies in relation to all Company undertakings and premises | Fully compliant |
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 | 1999 | 3,242 | Manual handling is minor but includes office filing, consultancy equipment and facilities management activities | Fully compliant |
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 | 2005 | 1,541 | Applies to the Company offices and to all other places in which work takes place | Fully compliant in respect of company offices. Customer sites require ongoing review |
The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 | 1992 | 2,699 | PPE is required for consultancy work on customer sites and some cleaning and FM activities at the office | Fully compliant |
Are you legally required to have a register?
There are no legal provisions that specifically require a register to be maintained. However, it is widely accepted that such a register is one of the central management tools that help an organisation to achieve compliance.
That said, Regulation 3 of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to carry out a risk assessment ‘for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him’.
It is therefore wise to have a clear understanding of which statutory provisions apply to your organisations.
The register should be regarded as just a part of an organisation’s overall health and safety management system and can also help you comply with the requirements of ISO 45001 or other accreditation.
Development and maintenance of a register
The implementation of a legal register requires two phases of work.
First, the initial register must be compiled by reviewing the current legal requirements that apply to your organisation.
The second phase involves monitoring new developments, both externally in the law and internally in the business and updating the register.
The legal register is not an end in itself and it should be regarded purely as a tool to assist in the more central aim of identifying relevant legal requirements and continually developing the management system to address those requirements.
Key Actions
- Ensure the involvement of a competent person
- Establish access to the legal requirements and ensure the information is kept up to date
- Arrange for the initial compilation of the register
- Arrange for the monitoring of new developments in law, approved codes of practice, standards and guidance as well as developments in the business
- Arrange for the ongoing maintenance and updating of the register
- Ensure that the management system and policies are continually developed to address the specific requirements identified in the register.
Author: Kenny Scott, health and safety consultant
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