Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

Information, instruction and training for persons who may be exposed to substances hazardous to health

12.—(1) Every employer who undertakes work which is liable to expose an employee to a substance hazardous to health shall provide that employee with suitable and sufficient information, instruction and training.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), the information, instruction and training provided under that paragraph shall include–

(a) details of the substances hazardous to health to which the employee is liable to be exposed including–

(i) the names of those substances and the risk which they present to health;

(ii) any relevant occupational exposure standard, maximum exposure limit or similar occupational exposure limit;

(iii) access to any relevant safety data sheet; and

(iv) other legislative provisions which concern the hazardous properties of those substances;

(b) the significant findings of the risk assessment;

(c) the appropriate precautions and actions to be taken by the employee in order to safeguard himself and other employees at the workplace;

(d) the results of any monitoring of exposure in accordance with regulation 10 and, in particular, in the case of a substance hazardous to health for which a maximum exposure limit has been approved, the employee or his representatives shall be informed forthwith, if the results of such monitoring show that the maximum exposure limit has been exceeded;

(e) the collective results of any health surveillance undertaken in accordance with regulation 11 in a form calculated to prevent those results from being identified as relating to a particular person; and

(f) where employees are working with a Group 4 biological agent or material that may contain such an agent, the provision of written instructions and, if appropriate, the display of notices which outline the procedures for handling such an agent or material.

(3) The information, instruction and training required by paragraph (1) shall be–

(a) adapted to take account of significant changes in the type of work carried out or methods of work used by the employer; and

(b) provided in a manner appropriate to the level, type and duration of exposure identified by the risk assessment.

(4) Every employer shall ensure that any person (whether or not his employee) who carries out work in connection with the employer’s duties under these Regulations has suitable and sufficient information, instruction and training.

(5) Where containers and pipes for substances hazardous to health used at work are not marked in accordance with any relevant legislation listed in Schedule 7, the employer shall, without prejudice to any derogations provided for in that legislation, ensure that the contents of those containers and pipes, together with the nature of those contents and any associated hazards, are clearly identifiable.