US law is very different from UK law - it's not a case of being stronger or weaker, they just aren't comparable. Whereas the HASAWA sets out broad duties and to a large extent it is up to the employer how to comply with them through risk assessment, OSHA is extremely prescriptive (rule-based and obsessed with very precise definitions of standards) and not risk-based (they don't really go in for risk assessment). See www.osha.gov which is the US equivalent of the HSE website.

Kate, Jane Thanks for the answers. I had a look at the OSHA website before posting. As you say it is very different to our H&S law. It appears they don't have the requirement for Policies as we do and there is no mention of Risk Assessments either. I think I will treat it as a normal UK company and go from there. Once again thanks for your quick response. Andy

Some years ago I was the UK member of an international audit team and had great difficulty trying to get my US team partners to understand our risk based approach. They were flummoxed that we did not specify what to do in which circumstances and mandate precautions regardless of the context. Their OSHA 1910 Regs are clear: you must do this, you mustn't do that, or be fined according to a set scale. UK policy and arrangements will have to be drawn up to suit the UK legal framework and to achieve what the spirit of the US company wants to achieve. However, as you are dealing with office based work, the job should be quite simple.

Yes, absolutely and nothing they couldn't do themselves with a little search on the internet, (and I will be telling them that too).