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Alas, poor Yorrick – what a hard hat might have done: Richard Geraghty on personal protective equipment

This episode of the Law Report focuses on personal injury, in particular, the duties imposed upon employers to provide personal protective equipment (PPE). This is an intermediate level course.



Statutory duties are a very important feature of employers' liability personal injury claims. Current statutory regulations originated with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The general safety duties imposed under that Act in sections 2 and 7 do not give rise to civil liability, but in most of the duties imposed by regulations made under the Act there is a well established possibility of civil liability.

The Single European Act of 1987 introduced the Euro Directive on safety standards and the core "six pack" of directives now incorporated into UK law. This includes the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which sets out the important requirement for risk assessments, and five other regulations dealing with the condition of the workplace, manual handing, display screens, provision and use of work equipment and personal protective equipment.

The information in this podcast represented the legal position when it was recorded on 20/08/2007

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Aims and Outcomes

This podcast explores the personal protective equipment regulations.

It will be useful to any lawyer wanting to understand more about the regulations, the link with the Work Equipment Regulations and recent case law.

The interview lasts for 27 minutes. It will take you a further 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire. You will need to get 50 per cent of the questions right to gain your CPD.

Learning outcomes

After listening to the interview, you will understand:

  • The PPE Regulations
  • The nature and extent of the employer’s duty to provide PPE
  • What is meant by “suitable” PPE
  • Risk assessment and PPE
  • Training and PPE
  • Civil liability and damages for breaches of the PPE regulations
  • The link between PPE and the Work Equipment Regulations
Richard Geraghty
Richard Geraghty

Richard Geraghty is a partner in the personal injury department in the London office of Russell Jones & Walker.

Richard joined the firm in 1996, shortly after completing his training contract with Bond Pearce and qualifying in 1995. He became a partner in 2002.

Richard's main area of practice is in personal injury litigation dealing with multi-track cases, including RTAs, fatal accidents, employer's liability, occupational stress, RSI and public liability. He is particularly interested in cases involving claimants who have been involved in multiple accidents and psychiatric injury cases.

He has acted on behalf of police officers in a number of high value claims, including the highest ever award to an officer from Suffolk Constabulary. He has also acted in a number of high value and complex Criminal Injury Compensation appeals, including cases involving catastrophic injury.

He is also a specialist in Social Security Appeals, in particular those relating to industrial injuries and disability benefits. He has been involved in a number of appeals at both Tribunal level and with the Social Security Commissioner.

Richard studied geography at the University of Nottingham, graduating in 1990. He obtained the CPE from the University of Sussex in 1992 and completed the Law Society finals at the College of Law, Guildford, in 1993.