The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Application and transitional provisions

3.—(1) These Regulations shall have effect with a view to protecting persons against risk to their health and safety arising from exposure to vibration at work.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), regulation 6(4) shall not apply until 6th July 2010 where work equipment is used which—

(a) was first provided to employees prior to 6th July 2007 by any employer; and

(b) does not permit compliance with the exposure limit values,

but in using such equipment the employer shall take into account the latest technical advances and the organisational measures taken in accordance with regulation 6(2).

(3) For the agriculture and forestry sectors, regulation 6(4) shall not apply to whole-body vibration until 6th July 2014 in respect of work equipment which—

(a) was first provided to employees prior to 6th July 2007 by any employer; and

(b) does not permit compliance with the exposure limit value for whole-body vibration,

but in using such equipment the employer shall take into account the latest technical advances and the organisational measures taken in accordance with regulation 6(2).

(4) Where a duty is placed by these Regulations on an employer in respect of his employees, he shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be under a like duty in respect of any other person, whether at work or not, who may be affected by the work carried out by the employer except that the duties of the employer—

(a) under regulation 7 (health surveillance) shall not extend to persons who are not his employees; and

(b) under regulation 8 (information, instruction and training) shall not extend to persons who are not his employees, unless those persons are on the premises where the work is being carried out.

(5) These Regulations shall apply to a self-employed person as they apply to an employer and an employee and as if that self-employed person were both an employer and an employee, except that regulation 7 shall not apply to a self-employed person.

(6) These Regulations shall not apply to the master or crew of a ship or to the employer of such persons in respect of the normal shipboard activities of a ship’s crew which are carried out solely by the crew under the direction of the master, and for the purposes of this paragraph “ship” includes every description of vessel used in navigation, other than a ship forming part of Her Majesty’s Navy.