Rank: Super forum user 
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Using my first thread on the new site as a means of some feedback, not a survey of course Mods, but I am currently building a web site dedicated to health and safety law. It will contain various Acts and Regulations and provide some basic interpretation of those statutory instruments, as well as associated case law. A Section on civil law and definitions on certain legal concepts such as strict liability, vicarious liability, duty of care, negligence and so on with hyperlinks. There will also be some topical news and bespoke articles on certain subjects.
The idea is that the site should be free to access and download and helpful to duty holders, students, practitioners and other aficionados of health and safety. The questions is, what specifically would you be looking for in terms of advice, case law, articles and/or other matters?
Thanks for your comments in advance.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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A noble effort my friend, just be careful you don't infringe copyright law.
We often debate matters of law on this forum (good) but the truth still remains that all we say is only an opinion, the law can only be decided in court. Case law is the corner stone of British legal system and is crucial in helping people chose their direction. I have had various "discussions" with people who claim that the law is such when there is NO case precedence to prove it thus.
I would like to see legislation-breaches-cases.
Yours,
Safety Smurf
Semper Mea Culpa Omnia
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Hi Ray,
You are obviously a dedicated man Ray! I am in the process of creating a second version of a Register of Environmental Legislation and Regulatory Requirements which also incorporates an Evaluation of Compliance. The 'register' is considered a live document which is reviewed and updated as required. As you will probably guess this method has been adopted to comply with ISO 14001:2004, although there are other ways to demonstrate compliance I personally found this the best and most efficient. OHSAS 18001 has a similar clause so I expect your website will get many hits from people looking for summarised versions of primary HS legislation. My 'register' gives the reader several key levels of information that include:
Reliable sources for review, advice and update of applicable legislation & Regulatory information + Hyperlinks to the relevant website;
A master index of all significant legislation + Hyperlinks to OPSI;
8 sections covering issues such as waste/water/Noise/Air/Climate Change and so on;
An evaluation of the legislation (3 main parts)
1/the work activity 2/Relevant Legislation 3/An Evaluation and method used to comply;
I have broken up some Acts / Regulations by section and carried out separate evaluations - this helps to clarify significant aspects of the one statute that can affect many different areas of the workplace;
Future legislation is referenced and is also regularly reviewed.
I think you are right to discuss case law - I use this effectively to state my case during external audit. The register is around 40 pages, includes 60 + evaluations and is maintained electronically.
What you’re doing is a slightly different project but closely related none-the-less - I applaud you for taking such a task on! It will help many but be careful if you provide summary info to the public - What happens if your interpretation is deemed inaccurate? Perhaps worth considering this Ray?
As a CPD project I found this really improved my knowledge of environmental legislation whilst ticking the box nicely for BSI (very successfully) so far.
Good luck
GC
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Rank: Super forum user
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Smurf/Gary
Thanks for your helpful comments. I only provided a precis of what my site will hopefully contain and I am aware of copyright law. There is also a disclaimer for obvious reasons. It is also inevitable that articles written by me will have my own slant and rather from a legal perspective it will probably be more biased towards practical aspects of health and safety. A plus I hope. Even case law is open to interpretation to some degree.
No doubt following recent trends and new case law will be challenging. The Corporate Manslaughter...Act is a prime example of watch this space. It occurred to me that many practitioners, the forum is a prime example, do not have a good understanding of the law and various processes. Therefore I decided to take this project on - long nights during the winter. I would not class myself as an expert, but happy to research subjects, hence good learning curve and CPD points.
Gary, your register sounds very interesting although I try not to get too involved in environmental issues at work, there is nonetheless some overlap. I will be doing the 18001 Lead Auditor course next January, so I will have a better handle on this aspect of practice.
Still not found spellchucker yet - does one exist?
Ray
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Rank: Super forum user
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Qoute - The questions is, what specifically would you be looking for in terms of advice, case law, articles and/or other matters?
Ray
Agree with Gary and Smurf but would also add downloads for R/Assmt forms and the like. When I first started in stealth and hasty I used a fair number of downloads from a Scottish safety forum that now seems to be defunct (or at least not updated) and tweaked them to be more appropiate to my then company.
PM me the web site and those who have responded, I'm sure we all have examples of useful formats that you could use.
Badger
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Rank: Forum user
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Ray
This is an excellent idea and would definitely be a useful resource for all of us out there. I would be partucularly keen on keeping up to date with case law developments and feel that this would be one of the key attractions to the site for myself.
In terms of articles, it may be an option for you to let other people submit articles so we get a wider consensus of opionion and it releases some burden off yourself. Of course then you are relying on user input, but it could be an option? I've been a H&S practitioner for just over two years now, and with my academic studies still fresh in my mind, writing articles is something I often feel the urge to do but never quite get the time to do it!
Looking forward to your developments.
Stephen
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Rank: Guest
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Ray
As you indicate that you're creating 'a web site dedicated to health and safety law', I (and many others) would be interested in case law in relation to occupational health and risks associated with behaviour of people, as distinct from risks arising from engineering errors and from physical, chemical and biological agents.
To my knowledge, only a couple of other sites even touch on this challenging area.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Perhaps some cases other than the 'usual suspects'. Also hope that any interpretation of CM&CH will focus on the fact that the act applies the OFFENCE of CM & CH REGARDLESS of the SIZE of the organisation. i.e. that it doesn't just apply to large companies, although the ability of large companies to previously claim the 'zeebrugge' or 'aggregate responsibility' defence, and therefore escape prosecution for CM under common law was one of the driving forces behind introducing the legislation.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Once again thanks for the comments and keep them coming.
Not planning to provide generic type documents as I am aware there are sites that do this and beyond the scope of what I am trying to achieve. Whilst there is a great deal of case law out there much is not particularly relevant and keeping up to date will be the challenge. I am hoping that by using hyperlinks the site will be easy to navigate, including relevant case law for each topic. Not sure how much is peculiar to behavoural (can never spell that damn word!) safety but will research.
To be honest I have never thought about others submitting articles and it would be churlish of me to refuse such an offer - watch this space. Phil, I note your comments on the CMA and our previous spat on the purpose of the Act. Not wishing to re-open the debate, I take note of all constructive comments. I did however complete a 20,000 word dissertation on the CMA last year, so hopefully I am well versed on the subject.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Ray, agree about not re-opening the debate, but as someone that had a very personal interest in seeing the CM&CH Act' on the books' I think that it is important that people understand that the act provides a mechanism to be able to prosecute any sized company that has allegedly committed the offence, as per section 1 of the act. To my mind it is the (alleged) offence that is the key, not the size of the company. The offence is no less an offence just because the company that committed it is 'small'.
Anyhow, good luck in your endeavour, as I say, perhaps some of the less 'usual suspects' might be helpful. Could I suggest cases on occupiers liability (Jolley) and how about ponds, sounds a strange request I know but I get allsorts of queries regarding fencing off ponds etc.
My kingdom for a spell checker :-)
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Rank: Forum user
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Ray,
Unusual interpretations and ratio would be worth a read.
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