› Contents
A guide to health and safety regulation in Great Britain
Foreword …4
Key facts …5
The system …7
The Health and Safety Executive …7 Local authorities …7 Ministerial responsibilities …8 Advisory committees …8 Consultation …9 Limits of HSE’s responsibilities …9
The Health and Safety Executive …10
Organisation …10 Policy …10 Inspection …10 Science and technology …11 Scotland …12 Wales …12 Diversity …12
The legal framework …13
Duties imposed by the Act …13 Regulations, codes of practice and guidance …13 Providing information and advice …14
Europe and the world …14 Competent authorities …15 Standards …15
The policy process …17
Impact assessment …18 Evaluation and review …18
Enforcement …19
Powers of inspectors …19 Local authorities …20 Planned inspections …20 A systems approach …21 Training inspectors …21 Sharing experience …21
Control of risks at the workplace …22
Managing risk …22 Consultation …22 Health and safety assistance …22 Permissioning regimes …23 Insurance and compensation …24
Further information …25
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Foreword
This guide outlines the occupational health and safety system in Great Britain. It responds to the many requests for information we receive from international visitors, enquirers and researchers, although many in Great Britain will also find it informative. It also describes briefly the work HSE does, in partnership with local authorities, to protect the public from the risks from work activities.
The health and safety system in Great Britain has now been in place for over 30 years, and has stood the test of time. The foundation of the existing system was established by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. This legislation has at its heart a simple but enduring principle
– those who create risk are best placed to control that risk, whether employers, the self-employed or manufacturers of articles or substances for use at work.
The performance of the health and safety system in Great Britain is a largely unheralded success story of the last 40 years. Great Britain has one of the best combined health and safety records in the world. Many other countries look to our model as an exemplar, so it is right that we articulate what the system is. But we are not complacent and we are always keen to listen to and learn from the experience of others.
Looking to the future, we still believe that the sensible management of risk in partnership with everyone involved is the way forward, starting with good leadership from employers and managers.
I hope you find this useful and interesting.
Judith Hackitt Chair Health and Safety Executive
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A guide to health and safety regulation in Great Britain
›
Key facts
A guide to health and safety regulation in Great Britain
› Great Britain has a tradition of health and safety regulation going back over 150 years. The present system came into being with the Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HSW Act) in 1974 with further significant modifications in 2008. The effect of this is to provide a unified institutional structure and legal framework for health and safety regulation. › The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) enforces the law in many workplaces, ranging from health and safety in nuclear installations and mines, through to factories, farms, hospitals and schools, offshore gas and oil installations, the safety of the gas grid and the electricity distribution system, the movement of dangerous goods and substances and many other aspects of the protection both of workers and the public. In addition, over 400 local authorities are responsible for enforcement in a wide range of other activities, including the retail and finance sectors, and other parts of the services sector, particularly leisure.
› The standards of health and safety achieved in Great Britain are delivered by the flexible regulatory system introduced by the HSW Act, and are typified by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. They also reflect a long tradition of health and safety regulation going back to the 19th century. Since the HSW Act was passed, HSE has been engaged in progressive reform of the law, seeking to replace detailed industry-specific legislation with a modern approach in which regulations, wherever possible, express goals and general principles, and detailed requirements are placed in codes and guidance. Approved codes have a special place in British health and safety law – they set out ways of achieving standards. Those who depart from a code must be prepared to show that their own approach is an equally valid way of meeting the legal requirements. In this way, flexibility is allowed for technological development within a framework set by mandatory regulations.
› A fundamental principle of the British system is
that responsibility for health and safety lies with
those who own, manage and work in industrial and
commercial undertakings. This includes the self
employed. They must assess the risks attached to
their activity and take appropriate action. Workforce
involvement and, in particular, the work of health
and safety representatives, has made an important
contribution to raising standards of health and safety.
› The need to take appropriate action to reduce risks lies behind the qualification ‘so far as is reasonably 5 of 28 pages A guide to health and safety regulation in Great Britain
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practicable’, which is widely used in British health and
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feed information back to the policy and technical
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safety law. This, in effect, requires that good practice
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centres of HSE. All can call, where necessary, on the
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should be followed whenever it is established. It sets
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experience and expertise within their own and other
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a high standard: a dutyholder must take all possible
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inspectorates and elsewhere in HSE.
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precautions up to the point where the taking of
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further measures would be grossly disproportionate
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to any residual risk.
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In enforcing the law, health and safety inspectors
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have important statutory powers. They can and
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do enter premises without warning. If they are not
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satisfied by health and safety standards, they can
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offer information and advice (both face to face and
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in writing), issue improvement notices requiring
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problems to be put right within a specified time,
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serve a prohibition notice stopping activity either
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with immediate or deferred effect, and (in England
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and Wales) prosecute for the most serious failings. In
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Scotland, inspectors make a report to the Procurator
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Fiscal who decides whether to prosecute.
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Some health and safety inspectors are trained in
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systems and principles applicable to a wide range
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of activities, while others specialise in a single high
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hazard industry, for example, nuclear power, mining,
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explosives or offshore oil and gas. All are highly
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trained to use discretion in applying the law and to
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