2.2.3 Designated authorities
There is a complex web of institutions and authorities in the UK responsible for health and safety. Figure 2.1 provides an overview of these. The three-person HSE consists of the Director General, the Deputy Director General Operations and the Deputy Director Policy. Figure 2.2 provides a detailed outline of the HSE structure. The current workforce of the HSE is approximately 4,000.
In practice, the designated authority for health and safety policy is the HSC, working closely with the HSE and the EASHW. The designated authorities for inspection and compliance are the HSE and approximately 400 local authorities that each implement policy and guidance issued by the HSE.
The more than 400 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales have responsibility for the enforcement of health and safety legislation in over one million premises.26 These include offices, shops, retail and wholesale distribution, hotel and catering establishments, petrol filling stations, residential care homes and the leisure industry. More than 11 million people are employed at these premises. By their nature, they attract many millions of members of the public each year. In the retail, wholesale and catering, offices, residential care homes and consumer/leisure industries, the local authorities are the principal enforcing authorities. However, in each case, the HSE may also have some enforcement responsibilities. Inspectors in local authorities are typically environmental health officers. Environmental health departments discharge their HSW Act enforcement duties alongside other local authority enforcement responsibilities. These include, for example, food safety, pollution and housing.
For example, the Aberdeen City Council is one of the responsible local authorities that act as enforcing authorities under the provisions of the HSW Act. Local authorities such as this have statutory duties for a safe system of work controls that apply both to employees and the public who may be affected by work activities (for example, customers and passers-by). It therefore runs an Occupational Health and Safety Enforcement Service within Aberdeen City Council.54 It states:
- As an Enforcing Authority, the authority has a responsibility for the provision of health and safety enforcement services covering a range of businesses, mainly within the service sector, covering approximately 3,900 premises. The types of businesses involved in health and safety enforcement include the following: – retail – wholesale – offices – catering – hotels – residential care homes – leisure and consumer services e.g. launderettes, hairdressers, undertakers, shoe repair, tyre and exhaust fitters, and churches.
The principal responsibility of the local authority is the inspection and audit of these premises, however there is also a responsibility to investigate complaints relating to safety, occupational health and welfare at these workplaces, and any reported accidents arising in the course of work activities at these premises. The local authority OSH service also receives notifications of work involving asbestos in terms of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002.25
New legislation applicable to OSH is implemented from time to time. There may also be updated or new codes of practice and guidance issued by the HSE. A recent Scottish example is the April 2006 amendment of the Civic Government [Scotland] Act 1982 to extend cover to services and procedures that involve dermal puncture. This includes acupuncture, cosmetic body piercing, electrolysis and tattooing. The Civic Government [Scotland] Act 1982 [Licensing of Skin Piercing and Tattooing] Order 2006 now requires those activities carried out as a business to be licensed with the local authority.55
The British Standards Institution (BSI) is more than 100 years old, has 5,500 employees worldwide and operates in over 100 countries. There are over 20,000 current British standards and 2,000 new or revised British, European or international standards produced by the BSI each year.56 The vast majority of UK standards in use are transposed European or international standards. The development of harmonised European standards supports the directives made under the Treaty of Rome. The BSI is the gateway to UK participation in the Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique and the International Electrotechnique Commission. The HSE is a major contributor, often on behalf of the BSI, to the development of many of the standards that have health and/or safety aspects.26 Standards vary in type from the specification of performance goals to guidance on operational practice, to design criteria for industrial products. They are sometimes referred to in published guidance from the HSE, and occasionally the use of standards is required by regulations and codes of practice. The HSC has emphasised the importance of standards in policy statements.26
