NOHSAC Report

2.2   United Kingdom – National OSH Systems

2.2.1   Policy

The organisation/institution that is the primary focus for OSH policy in the UK is the Health and Safety Commission (HSC). The HSC is responsible for health and safety regulation in Great Britain. The HSC is sponsored by the DWP and is ultimately accountable to the Parliamentary Under Secretary (for Work and Pensions) (Lords), currently Lord Hunt of Kings Heath OBE.

The HSE and local government are the enforcing authorities that work in support of the HSC, that is, the HSE’s job is to help the HSC ensure that risks to people’s health and safety from work activities are properly controlled. To this end, the HSE employs staff from a range of different backgrounds – including administrators, lawyers, inspectors, scientists, engineers, technologists and medical professionals.

The HSE acts as the UK Focal Point of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EASHW). The European Agency’s National Focal Points are normally the competent national authorities nominated by each country’s government and are the Agency’s official representative in the member state. The UK Focal Point is administered and supported by the following social partners: the Trade Union Congress, the Confederation of British Industry and the HSE (Northern Ireland). The EASHW aims to include the opinions of each social partner in all Agency documents. Together with other key health and safety organisations, they form what is termed the “United Kingdom Information Network”.

2.2.2   Legislation

The UK is a sovereign country with specific legislation that governs its citizens. However, it contains devolved national parliaments (Scotland and Wales), is also a member of the EU and is a signatory to various international agreements and conventions. This means that the UK’s OSH policies are derived from a mixture of international policy and agreements, EU directives and regulations, and legislation at both the national parliamentary and UK levels. However, in practice, the HSE remains the principal everyday focus for both the development and implementation of OSH policy in the UK.

In recent years, much of the UK’s health and safety law has originated in Europe. Proposals from the European Commission may be agreed by member states, which are then responsible for making them part of their domestic law. Current health and safety law in the UK, including much of that from Europe, is based on the principle of risk assessment.

The basis of UK health and safety law is the Health and Safety at Work (HSW) Act 1974. The HSW Act sets out the general duties that employers have towards employees and members of the public, and employees have to themselves and to each other.6 These duties are qualified in the Act by the principle of “so far as is reasonably practicable”. In other words, an employer does not have to take measures to avoid or reduce the risk if they are technically impossible or if the time, trouble or cost of the measures would be grossly disproportionate to the risk. What the law requires here is what good management and common sense would lead employers to do anyway: that is, to look at what the risks are and take sensible measures to tackle them. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 generally make more explicit what employers are required to do to manage health and safety under the HSW Act. Like the Act, they apply to every work activity. The main requirement on employers is to carry out a risk assessment. Employers with five or more employees need to record the significant findings of the risk assessment. The HSE considers risk assessment to be straightforward in a simple workplace, such as a typical office. It believes it should only be complicated if it deals with serious hazards such as those on a nuclear power station, chemical plant, laboratory or oil rig.

Other regulations require action in response to particular hazards, or in industries where hazards are particularly high and for these there may be specific regulations.7-25

A significant amount of information is made available to employers and employees about health and safety law, and safe workplace practices.6,26-52

The HSW Act set up new institutions and provided for the progressive revision and replacement of all health and safety law then existing.26 The HSW Act created two important new institutions:

The HSW Act and related legislation are enforced by the HSE, or by local authorities, according to the main activity carried out at individual work premises. The Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998 allocate the enforcement of health and safety legislation at different premises between local authorities and the HSE. Local authorities also have statutory responsibilities for the enforcement of health and safety law in certain premises. These are mainly in the distribution, retail, office, leisure and catering sectors. The HSE liaises closely with local authorities on enforcement matters through the Health and Safety/Local Authorities Liaison Committee (HELA). An enforcement liaison officer network in HSE regional offices across Britain also provides advice and support for local authorities.

Government ministers also hold responsibilities. In fact, health and safety is currently regulated the same way across the whole of Great Britain, and a number of different Secretaries of State are responsible to Parliament at Westminster for the activities of the HSC and HSE in different areas. The Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions answers to Parliament on the HSC’s and HSE’s staffing and resourcing, on matters affecting the protection of workers and on all other activities of the Commission and Executive, except when these come within the specific area of responsibility of another Secretary of State, i.e. Trade and Industry on nuclear safety and health and safety aspects of barriers to trade, and the Ministry of Agriculture on certain aspects of pesticide safety. In most of these matters, the Commission, Executive and local authorities act by virtue of their powers and duties under the HSW Act and its associated legislation, or European legislation. In a few, they act under agreements as the agent of the Secretary of State concerned. Secretaries of State have the power to direct the Commission in particular matters and they themselves may introduce health and safety law, provided that they consult the Commission. In practice, almost all health and safety proposals since the 1974 HSW Act have been put forward to Ministers by the Commission. In exercising their responsibilities for negotiating and implementing European health and safety law, Ministers look to the Commission for help and advice.

The HSE provides the HSC with policy, technological and professional advice. The HSE also obtains advice from a network of advisory committees. These deal with particular hazard areas and some with particular industries. Each includes input from employer and employee representatives. Their main function is to recommend standards and guidance, or to recommend an approach to a new or emerging problem. Standards of OSH are normally set in legislation, and governments have long recognised that poor OSH performance results in costs to the state through social security, industrial injuries and other compensation payments, medical costs for treatment and the loss of production. Above all, there can be a significant impact on the employability of the worker, and on families, friends and colleagues.

In the EU, the legislative framework is established by the European Commission through a series of European directives based in Article 137 of the EU Treaty, giving the EU authority to legislate in this field. Directive 89/391/EEC, or the Framework Directive, sets the general principles for effective safety and health at work, with other EU laws addressing specific issues such as chemical agents, noise, pregnant workers and so on.

The EU has established legislation in the form of directives and standards designed to protect the health and safety of Europe’s workers. An exhaustive online database is available from the EASHW.53

Member states have been enforcing authorities to ensure that the legal requirements relating to OSH are met. In many EU countries, there is also strong cooperation between the social partners – employers and worker organisations, and government – to ensure good OSH performance, as it is recognised that this has substantial benefits for the safety, health and wellbeing of workers, and the productivity and wellbeing of enterprises.

The HSE acts as a “focal point” or portal to the EASHW. The EU is a supranational and intergovernmental union of 25 independent, democratic member states. In January 2007, it expanded further to include two new members (Romania and Bulgaria). The EU is the world’s largest confederation of independent states, established under that name in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (usually known as the Maastricht Treaty). The EU’s activities cover most areas of public policy, from economic policy to foreign affairs, defence, agriculture and trade. However, the extent of its powers differs greatly among areas. In some, the EU may resemble a federation (e.g. on monetary affairs, agricultural, trade and environmental policy, economic and social policy), in others, a confederation (e.g. on home affairs), and in yet others, an international organisation (e.g. in foreign affairs).

The EASHW was established in 1996 with the goal to collect, analyse and promote OSH-related information. The Agency’s mission is to make European workplaces safer, healthier and more productive and, in particular, to promote an effective workplace prevention culture. The EASHW states, “Occupational safety and health is about preventing people from being harmed or made ill through work”. Therefore, they consider OSH to be the discipline concerned with preserving and protecting human and other resources in the workplace. This is no small task among an EU population nearly approaching 460 million, since, according to the EASHW, “Every five seconds, an EU worker is involved in a work-related accident, and every two hours one worker dies in an accident at work”.

The HSE also contributes to Eurostat, and liaises with the European Committee for Standardisation.