4.1 - Access to Health and Safety Information for Museum Workers

Abstract

One of the most important parts of occupational health, safety, and hygiene information is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the 500 or so pieces of safety legislation. The HSE Library and Information Service (HSE/LIS) supply copies, free of charge, of lists of all the Statutory Instruments both pre and post the Health and Safety at Work Act. Butterworths have published a cumulative supplement to update Redgrave's Health and Safety in Factories by Ian Ffyfe and E. Anthony Machin. Codes of Practice are issued by the Health and Safety Commission and the Codes of Practice of other organizations are also very important. The HSC Codes are mandatory and must be complied with, unless an equally safe procedure can be proved. The Health and Safety Executive Library and Information Service link up in the United Kingdom and internationally with organizations who are concerned with health and safety information. Among those contacted on a regular basis are the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, the National Radiological Protection Board, various unions, and the Royal College of Nursing in the UK and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the USA.