Unit 4

Electrical Installation Theory and Technology

Understanding the practices and procedures for the preparation and installation of
wiring systems and electrotechnical equipment in buildings, structures and the
environment

Outcome 1 Understand the procedures, practices and statutory and non statutory
regulatory requirements for preparing work sites for the installation of
wiring systems and associated equipment

Session 2 Statutory regulations

Learning outcomes for this session

In this session the student will:

Gain an understanding of the main statutory regulations which affect the way that
they work.

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Legislation

As a worker there are many pieces of legislation that provide a legal framework to
protect you.
These also include the building you are in and the electrical supply that you are
working with.
They are there to ensure that you do not come to any harm or harm those around you

There are two types of regulations you will

come across:
 Statutory (law)
 Non-statutory (guidance)

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Statutory Regulations
These Regulations state certain principles with regard to practice rather than being
specific.
These take precedence over non-statutory regulations:

• The Electricity at Work Regulations

• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations
• Workplace (Health and Safety and Welfare) Regulations
• Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations
• Working at Height Regulations
• Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations
• Manual Handling Operations Regulations
• Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
• Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations
• Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations.

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Non-Statutory Documents

Non- statutory documents usually provide guidance

Below is a list of some non-statutory documents.
• BS 7671:2018 IET Wiring Regulations
• On Site Guide
• IEE Guidance Notes
• AEEU Guide

The law takes precedence over non-statutory regulations

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The Health and Safety at Work etc Act
1974 (HSWA)
The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) acts like an umbrella and
draws all other statutory safety regulations under its reach.

Not everyone is covered by this umbrella.

People doing DIY at home and domestic servants are
not covered.
If cash is received, or work done in ’kind,’ then this is
considered work and therefore the Act applies.

Everyone has a duty to comply with the Act, including employers, employees,
trainees, self-employed, manufacturers, suppliers, designers, importers of work
equipment.
The Health and Safety Executive was formed as part of the HSWA, as a body to
promote the cause of better Health and Safety at Work

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Electricity at Work Regulations 1989
The electricity at Work Regulations are concerned with anything that is electrical and
used at work.

This could be anything from:

• A battery put in a torch
• To a 400 kV power line.

This document is the key form of legislation for anybody working within the
electrotechnical industry, it also applies to anyone who works on any electrical item
whilst they are at work.

The regulations are divided into sections, part II is on the next slide.

Continued

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 Part II of the EWR covers the general
aspects of electrical work
These are:
• Regulation 4 Systems, work activities and protective equipment
• Regulation 5 Strength and capability of electrical equipment
• Regulation 6 Adverse or hazardous environments
• Regulation 7 Insulation, protection and placing of conductors
• Regulation 8 Earthing or other suitable precautions
• Regulation 9 Integrity of referenced conductors
• Regulation 10 Connections
• Regulation 11 Means for protecting from excess of current
• Regulation 12 Means for cutting off the supply and for isolation
• Regulation 13 Precautions for work on equipment made dead
• Regulation 14 Work on or near live conductors
• Regulation 15 Working space, access and lighting
• Regulation 16 Persons to be competent to prevent danger and injury.
continued
The impact of these regulations on all aspects of electrical work within the industry
has been enormous. 8
The EWR
The EWR states that before any work is done three thing must be in place;
1. The person who is working must be competent to do the task
2. The task must have been planned in such a way that no live working takes place
3. Where live working cannot be avoided, the risks to injury must be limited.

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Management of Health and Safety at
Work Regulations
The MHSWR places duties on employers to introduce specific control measures to
ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and any others who are affected
by work activities.
• To carry out formal risk assessments
• To have formal management control systems
• To have specific protective and preventative measures set in place by the
employers
• To carry out health surveillance
• To appoint competent persons
• To arrange the necessary contacts with external services
• Have procedures set in place for serious and imminent danger
• To provide information for employees
• To encourage and ensure inter-employer cooperation
• To provide job/task specific training
• To assess the capability of those working
• To encourage and detail employee duties.
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Workplace (Health, safety and Welfare)
Regulations 1992
The workplace regulations aim to ensure that workplaces meet the health, safety
and welfare needs of all members of the workforce, including people with
disabilities.

This includes ventilation, workplace temperatures, health, welfare and safety.

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Control of Substances Hazardous to
Health 2002
A substance hazardous to health includes any material or mixture that is harmful to
people’s health. This includes not only the substance, but also the by-products and
not only the workers, but also those who are affected by the work activity.

The duties placed on employers are:

• Not to carry out work which is liable to expose an employee to a hazardous
substance unless an assessment has been made of the risks to health and safety
• To carry out the risk assessment in the light of appropriate data sheets and to
record the findings regularly reviewing them, ideally to prevent the exposure,
• If the risk of exposure cannot be removed then adequate precautions should be
taken with PPE

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The Work at Height Regulations 2005
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply to all work at height where there is a risk
of a fall liable to personal injury. This implies that a fall could occur at ground level
or even belowground level.

The regulations cover:

 Existing places of work and means of access for work at
height
 Collective fall prevention (for example guards rails)
 Working platforms
 Collective fall arrest (for example nets)
 Ladders and stepladders
 Inspection reports
 Revocations

continued

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The Work at Height Regulations 2005
A duty holder must ensure workers:
• Avoid working at height where possible
• Use work equipment or other measures to prevent falls where they cannot
avoid working at height, and
• Where they cannot eliminate the risk of a fall, use work equipment or other
measures to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall should one
occur.
The duty holder’s responsibilities include:
• Planning and organising all work at height
• Taking into account of weather conditions that could endanger health and safety
• Ensuring those involved in work at height are trained and competent
• Making sure that the place where work at height is done is safe
• The equipment for work at height is appropriately inspected
• The risks from fragile surfaces are properly controlled
• The risks from falling objects are properly controlled.

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 Personal Protective Equipment
PPE
The main requirement of the PPE at Work Regulations 1992 is that personal protective
equipment is to be supplied and used at work wherever there are risks to health and
safety that cannot be adequately controlled in other ways.

The Regulations also require that PPE:

• Is properly assessed before use to ensure it is suitable;
• Is maintained and stored properly;
• Is provided with instructions on how to use it safely; and
• Is used correctly by employees.

An employer cannot ask for money from an employee for PPE, whether it is
returnable or not.

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Manual Handling Operations
Regulations 1992 (as amended 2002)
The Regulations require employers to:
• avoid the need for hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably practicable;
• assess the risk of injury from any hazardous manual handling that can’t be avoided;
and
• reduce the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably
practicable.

Employees have duties too. They should:

• follow appropriate systems of work laid down for their safety;
• make proper use of equipment provided for their safety;
• co-operate with their employer on health and safety matters;
• inform the employer if they identify hazardous handling activities;
• take care to ensure that their activities do not put others at risk.

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Provision and Use of Work Equipment
Regulations
The Regulations require risks to people’s health and safety, from equipment that
they use at work, to be prevented or controlled.
What does PUWER do?
The Regulations require that equipment provided for use at work is:
• Suitable for the intended use;
• Safe for use, maintained in a safe condition and, in certain circumstances,
inspected to ensure this remains the case;
• Used only by people who have received adequate information, instruction and
training; and
• Accompanied by suitable safety measures, eg protective devices, markings,
warnings.

Any equipment which is used by an employee at work is covered

Similarly, if you use your own equipment at work, it too will be
covered by PUWER and you will need to make sure it complies
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Display Screen Equipment at Work
Regulations
The Regulations require employers to minimise the risks in VDU work by ensuring
that workplaces and jobs are well designed.
The Regulations apply where staffs habitually use VDUs as a significant part of their
normal work.
Those who are self employed, work from home or only work occasionally with
Display Screen Equipment are still covered under other health and safety at work
legislation.

Employers need to look at:

• The whole workstation including equipment, furniture, and the work
environment;
• The job being done; and
• Any special needs of individual staff.
• Where risks are identified, the employer must take steps to reduce them.
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 Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006
(amended 2012)
The new regulations came into force on 6 April 2012, updating previous asbestos
regulations
• If existing asbestos containing materials are in good condition and are not likely
to be damaged, they may be left in place; their condition monitored and managed
to ensure they are not disturbed.
• If you're responsible for maintenance of non-domestic premises, you have a
‘duty to manage’ the asbestos in them, to protect anyone using or working in the
premises from the risks to health that exposure to asbestos causes.
• If you want to do any building or maintenance work in premises, or on plant or
equipment that might contain asbestos, you need to identify where it is and its
type and condition; assess the risks, and manage and control these risks.

Continued..

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Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006
(amended 2012)
• The requirements for licensed work remain the same: in the majority of cases,
work with asbestos needs to be done by a licensed contractor. This work includes
most asbestos removal, all work with sprayed asbestos coatings and asbestos
lagging and most work with asbestos insulation and asbestos insulating board
(AIB).

Asbestos is a hidden killer each week approximately

 8 joiners
 6 electricians
 and 4 plumbers die from asbestos related diseases

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Multi choice questions

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1. What are The Electricity at Work Regulations?
a) Statutory regulations
b) Non statutory regulations
c) Guidance notes
d) For trained electricians only

2. What are the BS 7671: 2018 IET Wiring Regulations?

a) Statutory regulations
e) Non statutory regulations
c) Guidance notes
d) For trained electricians only

3. Which type of regulations are law?

a) Statutory regulations
e) Non-statutory regulations
c) Those regulations cited in a contract
d) a) and c) above
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4. The Health and safety at work etc Act covers
a) Domestic servants
b) People doing DIY.
c) People who do work in ‘kind’
d) All of the above

5. The Electricity at Work Regulations cover those who; .

d) put a battery in a torch
e) Work on a 400 kV power line.
c) Fit a power supply to a garden shed
d) All of the above

6. If you use your own equipment at work do you have to comply with
a) Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
b) The Work at Height Regulations 2005
c) The Manual Handling Regulations
d) Display Screen Equipment at Work Regulations
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7. The personal protective equipment regulations require that PPE is;
a) It is properly assessed before use to ensure it is suitable;
b) It is maintained and stored properly;
c) It is used correctly by employees.
d) All of the above

8. Where might you find asbestos in a building?

a) Any where in a building built after 2000
b) Lagging of old metal pipework
c) On wooden floors
d) In solar panels

9. What do the Manual Handling Regulations state?

a) That you can lift anything if you are strong enough
b) Always use a fork lift to move items
c) Avoid the need for hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably
practicable; End of session
d) If you have to lift something, bend from the waist not the knees
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