Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

17.22.7
Procedures for serious and imminent 
danger and contact with external 
services – Regulations 8 and 9
Procedures must be established for dealing with serious 
and imminent dangers, including fi re evacuation plans and 
arrangements for other emergencies. A suffi cient number 
of competent persons must be appointed to evacuate the 
premises in the event of an emergency. The procedures 
should allow for persons at risk to be informed of the haz-
ards and how and when to evacuate to avoid danger. In 
shared workplaces employers must co-operate. Access 
to dangerous areas should be restricted to authorized and 
properly trained staff. Any necessary contact arrange-
ments with external services for fi rst aid, emergency 
medical care and rescue work must be set up.
17.22.8
Information for employees – 
Regulation 10
Information must be provided to staff on the risk assess-
ment, risk controls, emergency procedures, the identity 
of the people appointed to assist on health and safety 
matters and risks notifi ed by others.
The information provided must take into account the 
level of training, knowledge and experience of the employ-
ees. It must take account of language diffi culties and be 
provided in a form that can be understood by everyone. 
The use of translations, symbols and diagrams should 
be considered. Where children under school leaving age 
are at work, information on the risk assessments and 
control measures must be provided to the child’s parent 
or guardians of children at work before the child starts 
work. It can be provided verbally or directly to the parent, 
guardians or school.
17.22.9
Co-operation and coordination – 
Regulations 11, 12 and 15
Where two or more employers share a workplace, each 
must:
➤
co-operate with other employers in health and safety 
matters
➤
take reasonable steps to coordinate their safety 
precautions
➤
inform the other employers of the risks to their 
employees, i.e. risks to neighbours’ employees.
➤
where people from outside organizations are present 
to do work they, and their employers, have to be pro-
vided with appropriate information on risks, health 
and the necessary precautions to be taken
➤
Temporary staff and staff with fi xed-term contracts 
as well as permanent employees must be supplied 
with health and safety information before starting 
work (Regulations 12 and 15)
➤
Regulation 11 does not apply to multi-occupied 
premises or sites where each unit, under the control 
of an individual tenant employer or self-employed 
person, is regarded as a separate workplace. In other 
cases, common areas may be shared workplaces, 
such as a reception area or canteen or they may be 
under the control of a person to whom Section 4 of 
HSW Act applies. Suitable arrangements may need 
to be put in place for these areas.