Posted By Paul L Williams Prescriptive Legislation - Things that either should be done i.e. a dangerous part should be guarded or things that should not be done. E.g. Factory Act 1847, most legislation pre HSWA was prescriptive, however there is still a lot prescriptive legislation around such as COSHH, Electricty at Work. Advantages - Makes legal requirements explicit so what the requires s clear to both dutyholders and enforcement officers Many aspects of legislation need to be prescriptive e.g. the requirement to carry out risk assessments or to have a written safety policy. Disadvantages - It may be necessary to amend it more frequently because it has become outdated. Goal Setting - Legislation To give the necessary detail far more Acts and Regulations are required If new hazards are created it may require new legislation There is little encouragement to achieve more than the minimum legal standard. Inspectors cannot insist on higher standards that could be achieved without disproportional cost. Advantages - A reduction in the amount of H&S legislation The absence of intricate detail The ability to keep pace more easily with technological change Infrequency of amendment Speedier method of enactment by way of negative resolution procedure Precise guidance to be contained in simpler statutory instruments, ACOPS and guidance which are easily amended/withdrawn. Disadvantages - Lack of precision can lead to misunderstanding Not all workers covered e.g. the domestic worker Difficult for employers to know how far to go. Hope this helps. Paul

Posted By Robert K Lewis Paul Fascinated to know why you chose the FA version that you did, the last one was 1960. James Prescriptive legislation is intended to define precise tests which must be achieved before you are compliant. An example would be the 2metre rule that existed in the old construction regulations below which guard rails were not required. CHSW Regs moved away from this to a degree but the statement also remained and the WAH regs have moved to the goal setting statement concerning assessment of risk of falls. The real problems with prescriptive though are that they could still allow persons to be exposed to danger, and yet the law is met. They were also tied to specific industries or machines, thus necessitating constant expansion and revision. The numbers of regulations grew like topsey from 1832 right through to 1974 and one could find some remarkable arrays in such as grinding, spinning and weaving. The idea of risk assessment has come through with the HSE implementing EU directives into the UK legal system and this permitted the intent of the 1974 act to set goals, rather than define precise compliance tests, to be moved forward. Unfortunately we are moving backwards now. Bob

Posted By Robert K Lewis I thought so too but it is worthy to note that one is looking at strategies and the other legislation - Wonder who has read it correctly? Clearly the word prescriptive is a bit awkward!