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SOURCES OF LAW - Coggle Diagram
SOURCES OF LAW
Two types of law.
Statue Law- (criminal)
Common Law- (civil)
STATUE LAW
Statue law is made by parliament and exists in the form of Acts, Regulations and Orders
THE ENFORCING AUTHORITIES
HSE- enforcing law in the UK
Local Authorities (LA)- - enforce health and safety law in many workplaces not covered by the HSE, such as, Hotels, Restaurants, Offices and Depots. ( described as lower-risk workplaces).
(LA) Environment Health Officers- (EHO's)- who have the same powers under the HSWA as HSE inspectors
POWERS OF INSPECTORS
Under HSWA, inspectors have a wide-range of powers to enter and inspect premises to ensure that activities are being carried out in accordance with state law
It is general policy to promote compliance through co-operation and discussion, inspectors do have the power to issue enforcement notices and if necessary, prosecute offenders
Under section 20 of HSWA inspectors have the following powers
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ENFORCEMENT NOTICES
Two types of enforcement notices issued by inspectors
Improvement Notices
Prohibition Notices
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COMMON LAW
Common law is made by judges through the decisions that they make and the presidents that they set, in effect it is the law of the land as established by custom and practice.
Judicial precedent is the principle that a lower court (crown court) must always follow decisions of a higher court (Supreme court).
Once a judgment has been made in a particular case , that decision will apply in any future cases which match the particular circumstances of the first
DUTIES
The common law duties of employers are are established by case law
The employer has common law duty to provide;
A safe place to work with safe access to and from it
Safe plant and equipment
A safe system for doing the work
Safe and competent workers
Appropriate supervision, information, instruction and training
RELEVANCE OF COMMON LAW
common law is routinely used in (CIVIL LAW) courts when bringing a claim for compensation .
It is not used when bringing prosecutions against employers for health and safety falings
In very rare cases, a prosecution may be brought against an individual on the bases of manslaughter by gross negligence.
This is a common law offence
VICARIOUS LIABILITY
An employer can be held liable for the negligence acts of their employees
Example;-
If a fork truck driver runs into a member of the public while moving a load, the injured person can sue the company
Main Restrictions
The negligent person who causes the harm must be an employee of the employer (not an independent contractor)
The employee has to be acting in the course when they commit their negligent act, (if they were on a frolic of their own they can be held personally liable and their employer can escape it_
The two main enforcement agencies in Great Britain are;
Health and Safety Executive
Local Authorities