2.2.4 Inspection and compliance systems
The delivery of inspection and compliance services is principally the responsibility of the HSE. However, local authorities also have important roles to play, with HSE oversight. That is, health and safety law in the UK is enforced by inspectors from the HSE or by inspectors from local authorities. The HSE inspectorate is organised as follows.
Most HSE inspectors work in the Field Operations Directorate, along with the medical staff of the EMAS. The offices are organised in regional groups across the UK. Their work is mainly concerned with inspection and compliance/enforcement. However, they also take on a variety of other tasks including liaison with local authorities, planning matters, providing medical advice, collecting statistics and acting as front-line contacts with the public who may ask for advice on hazards affecting them.
The Field Operations Directorate is organised into seven broad sector groupings, each with similar industrial processes, and the railway industry. It has an Occupational Health and Environmental Unit and a Safety Unit. These units deal with health and safety issues across all employment sectors. They also support the work of the advisory committees (see Figure 2.1).
The Nuclear Safety Directorate (NSD) regulates nuclear safety. UK law requires nuclear plants to hold a licence issued by the HSE before they can operate. The NSD administers licences on behalf of the HSE, establishes conditions for the licences, and also lays down general safety requirements to deal with risks on nuclear sites. The applicable law is complemented by the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 that provide protection for all workers in industries including nuclear sites.
The Hazardous Installations Directorate (HID) takes responsibility for enforcing health and safety in a number of industries. These include: the petroleum and diving industries; sites where chemicals are manufactured; sites where large quantities of hazardous chemicals are stored; sites where explosives are manufactured, stored, or processed; pipelines transporting hazardous substances and road transport of hazardous substances; and mining operations and exploratory mine drilling. The HID also advises local authorities on planning matters for installations considered to be potentially hazardous, and other developments in the vicinity of such installations.
HSE or local authority inspectors conduct inspections. Inspectors have the right to enter any workplace without giving notice, although notice may be given where the inspector thinks it is appropriate. On a normal inspection visit, an inspector would expect to look at the workplace, the work activities and the management of health and safety, and to check for compliance with health and safety law. The inspector may also offer guidance or advice. During a normal inspection visit, an inspector will expect to check that those in charge, e.g. employers, have arrangements in place for consulting and informing employees or their representatives, e.g. safety representatives, about health and safety matters. Such arrangements are required by law. They will usually want to talk with employees and their representatives. Sometimes they will take photographs and/or samples. If they consider there is a risk to health and safety that needs to be dealt with immediately, they will take action, usually in the form of serving improvement notices.
On finding a breach of health and safety law, the inspector will decide what action to take. The action will depend on the nature of the breach, and will be based on the principles set out in the HSC’s Enforcement Policy Statement.27 The inspector should provide employees or their representatives with information about any action taken, or which is necessary for the purpose of keeping them informed about matters affecting their health, safety and welfare.
Inspectors may take enforcement action in several ways to deal with a breach of the law. In most cases, these are as follows:
- Informal – Where the breach of the law is relatively minor, the inspector may tell the duty holder, for example the employer or contractor, what to do to comply with the law, and explain why. The inspector will, if asked, write to confirm any advice, and to distinguish legal requirements from best practice advice.
- Improvement notice – Where the breach of the law is more serious, the inspector may issue an improvement notice to tell the duty holder to do something to comply with the law. The inspector will discuss the improvement notice and, if possible, resolve points of difference before serving it. The notice will say what needs to be done, why and by when. The time period within which to take the remedial action will be at least 21 days, to allow the duty holder time to appeal to an industrial tribunal if they so wish. The inspector can take further legal action if the notice is not complied with within the specified time period.
- Prohibition notice – Where an activity involves, or will involve, a risk of serious personal injury, the inspector may serve a notice prohibiting the activity immediately or after a specified time period, and not allowing it to be resumed until remedial action has been taken. The notice will explain why the action is necessary. The duty holder will be told in writing about the right of appeal to an industrial tribunal.
- Prosecution – In some cases, the inspector may consider that it is also necessary to initiate a prosecution. Decisions on whether to prosecute are informed by the principles in the HSC’s Enforcement Policy Statement.27 Health and safety law gives the courts considerable scope for punishing offenders and deterring others. For example, a failure to comply with an improvement or prohibition notice, or a court remedy order, carries a fine of up to £20,000, or six months’ imprisonment, or both. Unlimited fines and, in some cases, imprisonment may be imposed by higher courts.
Note that, in the UK, Crown bodies must comply with health and safety requirements, but they are not subject to statutory enforcement, including prosecution.27 The Cabinet Office has established non-statutory arrangements for enforcing health and safety requirements in Crown bodies. These arrangements allow the HSE to issue non-statutory improvement and prohibition notices, and for the censure of Crown bodies in circumstances where, but for Crown immunity, prosecution would have been justified.