Lone Worker Legislation vs Lone Worker Regulation: What’s the Difference?
There has been a lot of time and energy spent on updating the legislation around Lone Workers of the world, particularly over the past 15 years. Australia, Canada, and the UK all have revised and updated language about lone workers at the legislative level.
Legislation - Health and safety key points
Legislation is synonymous with statutory law; the laws that have been enacted by the legislature as well as those still in the process of being enacted. Legislation is both the description of the legal requirements, and of the punishment for violating the law.
Regulation – Health and safety key points
Regulations, by comparison, are the ongoing processes of monitoring and enforcing the law: so not just HOW the legislation is being enforced, but also the very act of enforcement. Where the confusion comes in is that regulation is also the name of the document itself that details the act and description of regulation.
How are safety legislation and safety regulations similar?
They both have the same primary objective of protecting workers. Both are established by different levels of government and agencies, and in some cases, regulations are employed to satisfy specific goals within the legislation.
Additionally, safety legislation and safety regulations must be reviewed in a public hearing if any changes, additions, and/or updates are made. They are both enforced by the law and legal system, which has the authority to penalize the individual or company with fines and even imprisonment.
How are safety legislation and safety regulations different?
The difference between safety legislation and safety regulations is small but nevertheless exists and must be noted. In order to become official, legislation must go through a rigorous bill process and review before being signed into law. On the other hand, safety regulations are created by government agencies and are approved through a shorter public hearing and decision process.
Overall, legislation is an umbrella of rules and laws that affect everyone equally. Regulations, however, impact only employees and workers who are working with the agency that is responsible for the said regulations.
Download our eBook Safety Legislation vs. Safety Regulations: Embrace Both for the Safety of Your Workers
The journey versus the destination
It’s best to think of it like this: If legislation is a destination, then regulation is how we get there.
regulation comes from a number of sources, but the most common forms are government regulation and self-regulation. Government regulation is a natural extension of legislation, in that it defines and controls some of the ways that a business or individual can operate in order to follow the law. A very straightforward example is food packaging in Canada: it must, at the very least, be packaged with both English and French wording.
Self-regulation is when an individual or a business has control over the particulars of how it meets the minimum legislative requirements. If you owned a kitchen, the law states that it must be sanitary, but you have the regulatory power to decide how it gets cleaned. Food must be stored under certain conditions, but you have control over how those conditions are achieved.
Who benefits most from workplace safety regulations?
From the employee perspective, they benefit from workplace safety regulations by having a safer, more secure environment to perform their jobs. Even if an incident never takes place, there is that peace of mind knowing that there are strict regulations in place to protect them. From the employer's perspective, workplace safety regulations help protect their valued team by acting somewhat as guides for occupational safety while being regulatory compliant.
This is, of course, a very basic explanation, but one that gets to the heart of the matter. We hope that this helps clarify things a little!
Why is this distinction between safety legislation and safety regulations important?
This distinction and relationship are important to you because regardless of where you work or what industry you work in, safety legislation and safety regulations play a major role in how safety and well-being are practiced in your workplace.
By understanding your local safety legislation and regulations, you can protect your team from harm and injury, and you can protect your organization from lawsuits and hefty fines.
Download our ebook on Canadian safety legislation and the liabilities of working alone.