Ventilation Systems: Your Legal Duties

Ventilation Systems: Your Legal Duties

• The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 state that: Where ventilation is provided by mechanical means the regulations (Regulation 5) require those mechanical ventilation systems to be maintained (including cleaned as appropriate) in efficient working order.
• Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 imposes a duty on every employer to conduct a ventilation hygiene assessment to determine the risk associated with ventilation systems and air quality.
• The Workplace Regulations are accompanied by an Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) which gives guidance on how compliance with the regulations can be achieved. ACoP 33States that “Mechanical ventilation systems should be regularly and properly cleaned, tested and maintained to ensure that they are kept free from anything which may contaminate the air.”