Amendment of the Management Regulations
2.—(1) The Management Regulations shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (7).
(2) In regulation 1(2)—
(a)for the definition of “the assessment” there shall be substituted the following definitions—
‘ “the assessment” means, in the case of an employer or self-employed person, the assessment made or changed by him in accordance with regulation 3;
“child” means a person who is not over compulsory school age within the meaning of Article 46 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986;';
(b)after the definition of “fixed-term contract of employment” the word “and” shall be revoked;
(c)the definition of “maternity leave period” shall be revoked; and
(d)after the definition of “the preventive and protective measures” there shall be added—
‘; and
“young person” means any person who has not attained the age of eighteen'.
(3) For regulation 2 there shall be substituted the following regulation—
“Disapplication of these Regulations
2.—(1) These Regulations shall not apply to or in relation to the master or crew of a sea-going ship or to the employer of such persons in respect of the normal ship-board activities of a ship’s crew under the direction of the master.
(2) Regulations 3(3A), (3B) and (3C), 8(2) and 13D shall not apply to occasional work or short-term work involving—
(a)domestic service in a private household; or
(b)work regarded as not being harmful, damaging or dangerous to young people in a family undertaking.”.
(4) After regulation 3(3) there shall be inserted the following paragraphs—
“(3A) Subject to paragraph (3B), an employer shall not employ a young person unless he has, in relation to risks to the health and safety of young persons, made or reviewed an assessment in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (3C).
(3B) Where an employer is employing a young person when this paragraph comes into operation he shall, in relation to risks to the health and safety of young persons, review the assessment forthwith.
(3C) In making or reviewing the assessment, an employer who employs or is to employ a young person shall take particular account of—
(a)the inexperience, lack of awareness of risks and immaturity of young persons;
(b)the fitting-out and layout of the workplace and the workstation;
(c)the nature, degree and duration of exposure to physical, biological and chemical agents;
(d)the form, range and use of work equipment and the way in which it is handled;
(e)the organisation of processes and activities;
(f)the extent of the health and safety training provided or to be provided to young persons; and
(g)risks from agents, processes and work listed in the Annex to Council Directive 94/33/EC on the protection of young people at work.”.
(5) Regulation 8 shall be re-numbered as paragraph (1) of that regulation and after that paragraph there shall be added the following paragraphs—
“(2) Every employer shall, before employing a child, provide a parent of the child with comprehensible and relevant information on—
(a)the risks to the child’s health and safety identified by the assessment;
(b)the preventive and protective measures; and
(c)the risks notified to him in accordance with regulation 9(1)(c).
(3) In paragraph (2) the reference to the parent of a child includes a person who has for that child, parental responsibility within the meaning of Article 6 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.”.
(6) After regulation 13C there shall be inserted the following regulation—
“Protection of young persons
13D.—(1) Every employer shall ensure that young persons employed by him are protected at work from any risks to their health or safety which are a consequence of their lack of experience, of absence or awareness of existing or potential risks or the fact that young persons have not yet fully matured.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), an employer shall not employ a young person for work—
(a)which is beyond his physical or psychological capacity;
(b)involving harmful exposure to agents which are toxic, carcinogenic, cause heritable genetic damage or harm to the unborn child or which in any other way chronically affect human health;
(c)involving harmful exposure to radiation;
(d)involving the risk of accidents which it may reasonably be assumed cannot be recognised or avoided by young persons owing to their insufficient attention to safety or lack of experience or training; or
(e)in which there is a risk to health from—
(i)extreme cold or heat;
(ii)noise; or
(iii)vibration,
and in determining whether the work will involve harm or risk for the purposes of this paragraph, regard shall be had to the results of the assessment.
(3) Nothing in paragraph (2) shall prevent the employment of a young person who is no longer a child for work—
(a)where it is necessary for his training;
(b)where the young person will be supervised by a competent person; and
(c)where any risk will be reduced to the lowest level that is reasonably practicable.”.
(7) For paragraph (2) of regulation 15 there shall be substituted the following paragraph—
“(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any duty imposed by these Regulations on an employer—
(a)to the extent that it relates to risk referred to in regulation 13A(1) to an employee; or
(b)which is contained in regulation 13D.”.