Posted By Sam Rawcliffe Jim It depends on the Statutory duty imposed by the relevant legislation. Under normal circumstances you would only have to do what is "reasonably practicable" unless a higher level of duty is imposed for instance: Reg6(1)PUWER 'Every employer SHALL ensure that work equipment is maintained...". This duty is a must no matter what the cost or effort. or the one I think your thinking of is "so far as is practical" or "best practical means" which relates to what is practical in light of current knowledge and invention. If something becomes practicable, it is feasible, and it must be done no matter how inconvenient or expensive. i.e Noise at Work Regs 10(1)(b) Ensure so far as is practicable that all equipment is maintained. On the other hand, you do have a duty to review your risk assessments under the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regs, but again your control measures would only have to be what was reasonably practicable. Hope this helps. Sam Rawcliffe.

Posted By Jim O'Dwyer Thanks for the info. What I'm looking for is a reference (to quote) that expresses the duty/obligation that employers have to keep abreast of developments safer practice and in Industry Standards. It may just have been some advice from the HSE that I've seen. Any help would be appreciated. Best wishes Jim O'Dwyer

Posted By Jim O'Dwyer Thanks Richard. I agree with you that the duty to seek out safer methods is implicit in the legislation. However, I thought it may have been defined explicitly somewhere. Perhaps I may have been thinking of the IOSH Code of Conduct (Code 4) which states: "Members shall take all reasonable steps to obtain, maintain and develop their professional competence by attention to new developments in occupational safety and health and shall encourage others working under their supervision to do so." Thanks again to all for your help on this. Jim O'Dwyer