The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Health and Safety at Work) (Employment of Young Persons) Regulations 1998

Additional general duties U.K.

5.—(1) In addition to the duties contained in the General Duties Regulations, appropriate measures shall be taken to protect young persons at work from the risks to their health and safety which are a consequence of their lack of experience, or absence of awareness of existing or potential risks or the fact that young persons have not yet fully matured.

(2) No young person shall be permitted to begin work in a ship unless an assessment has first been made, either separately or as an addition to the assessment made under regulation 7 of the General Duties Regulations, of the risks to the health and safety of young persons which might arise during the normal course of their working time taking into account the inexperience, lack of awareness of risks and immaturity of young persons, and paying particular attention to–

(a) the fitting out and layout of working areas;

(b) the nature, degree and duration of exposure to physical, biological and chemical agents;

(c) the form, range and use of work equipment and the way in which it is handled;

(d) the organisation of processes and activities;

(e) the extent of the health and safety training provided or to be provided to the young persons concerned; and

(f) risks from agents, processes and work listed in the Schedule to these Regulations.

(3) Young persons shall be informed of possible risks to their health and safety identified by the assessment under paragraph (2), and of all measures adopted for their protection.

(4) No young persons shall be engaged in–

(a) work which is objectively beyond their physical or psychological capacity;

(b) work 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) work involving harmful exposure to radiation;

(d) work involving the risk of accidents which it may 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) work in which there is a risk to health from–

(i) extreme cold or heat, or

(ii) noise, or

(iii) vibration.

(5) In determining whether the work will involve harm or risk for the purposes of this regulation, regard shall be had to–

(a) the findings of the assessment carried out under paragraph (2); and

(b) the list of agents, processes and work contained in the Schedule to these Regulations.

(6) Nothing in paragraph (4) shall prevent the employment of a young person to perform any activity where that activity–

(a) is indispensable for their vocational training; and

(b) is performed under the supervision of a competent person,

and in such a case the duty shall be to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health and safety of the young person when performing that activity.

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 5 in force at 30.10.1998, see reg. 1(1)