This will mean that turban-wearing Sikhs will be exempt from legal requirements to wear a safety helmet in most workplaces, either as workers or visitors.
Some limited exceptions where employers will be able to require Sikhs to wear safety helmets will still apply, mainly involving the armed forces and emergency response situations.
Employers will still have to assess the risk to workers and make available any protective equipment, including head protection, considered to be necessary following the risk assessment. However, the decision not to wear appropriate head protection in accordance with the exemption will be one for the turban-wearing Sikh individual. If the individual chooses not to wear a safety helmet the employer’s liability for any injury, loss or damage will be limited to the extent that the injury, loss or damage would have been sustained by the Sikh had he been wearing a safety helmet.
Attempting to impose a requirement on a turban-wearing Sikh to wear a safety helmet at a workplace will amount to discrimination against the Sikh individual under the Equality Act 2010. It would not be considered to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim such to avoid indirectly discriminating against the Sikh individual.
Reference: Section 6, the Deregulation Act 2015