These requirements apply to all business activities in this division.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 — general duties
Enforced by:
HSE
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
General duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and others affected by the work. Primary metal production is high-hazard — molten metal, hot work, heavy plant, fume and noise all engage HASWA. NI: Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.
insurance
Great_Britain
Annual
Employers' Liability Insurance
Enforced by:
HSE
Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969
Compulsory for any business employing at least one person.
registration
Uk
Annual
UK GDPR + Data Protection Act 2018
Enforced by:
ICO
Data Protection Act 2018; UK GDPR (retained EU law)
Applies to any business processing personal data — staff, customers, suppliers. ICO data protection fee payable unless specifically exempt.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
Equality Act 2010 — protected characteristics
Enforced by:
EHRC
Equality Act 2010
Discrimination, harassment and victimisation prohibited across nine protected characteristics in employment and services. NI: separate equality legislation enforced by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
compliance
England_Wales
Ongoing
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Enforced by:
LOCAL_FIRE_AUTHORITY
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
The responsible person must carry out a fire risk assessment and maintain fire-safety arrangements. Demanding in metalworks where hot processes, combustible dusts and flammable gases are present (read with DSEAR). Devolved: Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006; Fire and Rescue Services (NI) Order 2006.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
Enforced by:
HSE
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002
Assess, prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances; monitor exposure and provide health surveillance where required. Central to basic-metal production — metal fume (welding/casting fume fever, manganese, hexavalent chromium, nickel, cadmium, lead), respirable crystalline silica from foundry sand, and acid mists in pickling all engage COSHH. NI: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres (DSEAR)
Enforced by:
HSE
Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002
Assess and control fire, explosion and energetic-event risks. In metal production the dominant hazards are molten-metal / water steam explosions, flammable process gases (e.g. blast-furnace gas, coke-oven gas, hydrogen, acetylene) and combustible metal dusts (aluminium, magnesium fines). Zone hazardous areas and select compliant equipment. NI: DSEAR (Northern Ireland) 2003.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
Provision and Use of Work Equipment (PUWER)
Enforced by:
HSE
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
Work equipment — furnaces, ladles, rolling mills, presses, conveyors, cranes and casting plant — must be suitable, maintained, inspected and safe to use, with adequate guarding. Reads with the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 for steam, compressed-gas and hydraulic plant and LOLER 1998 for lifting equipment handling hot metal.
compliance
Great_Britain
Ongoing
Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
Enforced by:
HSE
Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
Avoid hazardous manual handling so far as reasonably practicable, then assess and reduce the risk of injury — billets, ingots, coils, castings, moulds and heavy tooling are routine in basic-metal production. NI: Manual Handling Operations Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992.
compliance
Uk
Ongoing
General Product Safety Regulations 2005
Enforced by:
OPSS
General Product Safety Regulations 2005
A general safety duty applies where metal products are placed on the GB market for, or likely to be used by, consumers (e.g. semi-finished bar, sheet or castings sold on to consumers). Most basic-metal output is a B2B intermediate not covered by the GPSR, but downstream / finished-product lines must meet the general safety requirement. OPSS leads, enforced with local Trading Standards.