The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has published guidance for self-employed individuals to simplify the understanding of when health and safety laws apply.
If you are self-employed, health and safety law applies to you if:
you employ anyone – even temporarily, such as on a short-term contract.
your work activity poses a potential risk to the health and safety of others, for example using chemicals that could cause harm, creating noise, dust or fumes, or using equipment that could injure someone.
you undertake work involving: construction, agriculture, operating a railway, working with gas, involving asbestos or working with genetically modified organisms.
The law does not apply if you are self employed and you do not employ anyone and your work does not pose a risk to anyone else.
Risk is the likelihood of someone else being harmed or injured as a result of your work activity, such as members of the public, clients or contractors or a person being harmed or suffering harmful health effects if exposed to a hazard your work activity creates.
You have a duty to protect yourself and others from the risks your work activity creates, even if this is only for a small part of the time you are working. Therefore consider the sort of work you do and if it could pose a risk to the health or safety of anyone else; and
how and where your work activity takes place, particularly your working environment use of equipment, materials or substances.
Other factors to consider are:
The working environment
Do you work outside?
Do you work in premises or other workplaces where people can visit or have access to, and could you harm their health or safety?
Equipment, materials or substances you use
Could someone be harmed, for example burnt, scalded, crushed, trip over or fall?
Does your work activity create noise, dust or fumes?
Do you use any materials or substances that could injure someone if they came into contact with them?
The examples below illustrate when self-employed work might pose a risk to others:
.
An employer managing sub-contractors
As an employer you have duties under the law to ensure the contractor you choose can do the job safely and without risks to health and safety.
A self-employed hairdresser
If you use potentially harmful bleaching agents or similar chemicals then the law will apply to you. However, if you are simply washing and cutting hair, then health and safety law will no longer apply.
A self-employed person working at home
It is the work activity that matters. If you are working on a client's accounts, the law will no longer apply. However, if you are writing a manual someone will use to operate dangerous machinery, then the law will still apply to you.
A photographer
If you are a landscape photographer working by yourself who develops your photographs at home, the law does not apply to you. However, if you take aerial photographs, for example using a drone, you could injure others so the law would apply to you.
A self-employed courier or delivery driver
If you drive vehicles or ride powered 2-wheelers (including motorcycles, mopeds and scooters) or bicycles on the road as part of your work activity, then the law applies to you while you are driving for work. However, if you are travelling to a fixed site, commuting or using the same type of vehicle or powered 2-wheeler for a personal journey, then the law will not apply.
A self-employed accountant taking on a work placement student
You will have duties as an employer and will need to take steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of your employee.
If any of these examples apply to you and you're unsure what you should do next please get in touch.
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