The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a UK government agency responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environm ...

s in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. It is a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with its headquarters in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle's ...

, England. In

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, these duties lie with the

Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) is a Northern Ireland non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for the Economy. It is responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of occupational health ...

. The HSE was created by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and has since absorbed earlier regulatory bodies such as the Factory Inspectorate and the

Railway Inspectorate Established in 1840, His Majesty's Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) is the organisation responsible for overseeing safety on Britain's railways and tramways. It was previously a separate non-departmental public body, but from 1990 to April 2006 it ...

though the Railway Inspectorate was transferred to the

Office of Rail and Road The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...

in April 2006. The HSE is sponsored by the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

. As part of its work, HSE investigates industrial accidents, small and large, including major incidents such as the explosion and fire at Buncefield in 2005. Though it formerly reported to the

Health and Safety Commission The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) was a United Kingdom non-departmental public body. The HSC was created by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA). It was formally established on 31 July 1974. The Commission consisted of a chairm ...

, on 1 April 2008, the two bodies merged.

Functions

The Executive's duties are to: *Assist and encourage persons concerned with matters relevant to the operation of the objectives of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. *Make arrangements for and encourage research and publication, training, and information in connection with its work. *Make arrangements for securing government departments, employers, employees, their respective representative organisations, and other persons are provided with an information and advisory service and are kept informed of, and adequately advised on such matters. *Propose health and safety regulations. The Executive is further obliged to keep the Secretary of State informed of its plans and ensure alignment with the policies of the Secretary of State, giving effect to any directions given to it. The Secretary of State can give directions to the Executive. The Railway Inspectorate was transferred to HSE in 1990. On 1 April 2006, the Executive ceased to have responsibility for railway safety, when the Railway Inspectorate was transferred to the Office of Rail Regulation (now the Office of Rail and Road). The Executive is responsible for the

Employment Medical Advisory Service The Employment Medical Advisory Service is a statutory public service in Great Britain operated as part of the Field Operations Directorate of the Health and Safety Executive. Purpose The Service was created by the Employment Medical Advisory Serv ...

, which operates as part of its Field Operations Directorate.

Structure and responsibilities

Local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

are responsible for the enforcement of health and safety legislation in shops, offices, and other parts of the service sector. Agencies belonging to the HSE include

Health and Safety Executive, Science Division

Based in

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Safety Engineering Safety engineering is an engineering discipline which assures that engineered systems provide acceptable levels of safety. It is strongly related to industrial engineering/systems engineering, and the subset system safety engineering. Safety eng ...

Laboratory and an Explosion and Flame Research Laboratory, operating as part of the Research Laboratories Service Division of the HSE. In 1995 the HSL was formed, including the Buxton site and laboratories in Sheffield. In 2004 the Sheffield activities moved to Buxton, and the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

took over the Sheffield laboratory site.www.hsl.gov.uk
A Century of Science It now operates as an agency carrying out scientific research and investigations (e.g. on the

Buncefield fire The Buncefield fire was a major fire at an oil storage facility that started on 11 December 2005 at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal, located near the M1 motorway, Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire, England. The terminal was the fifth la ...

) for the HSE, other government agencies and the private sector.

HM Inspectorate of Mines

HM Inspectorate of Mines is responsible for the correct implementation and inspection of safe working procedures within all UK mine workings. It is based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...

Offshore Safety Division

The Offshore Safety Division (OSD) was established as a division within HSE in April 1991. This was in response to recommendations of the Cullen Inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster on 6 July 1988. At the time of the disaster, the Department of Energy (DEn) was responsible for both production and offshore safety; this was perceived as entailing a conflict of interests. Dr Tony Barrell, Director of HSE's Technology and Air Pollution Division was appointed Chief Executive of OSD, having previously been seconded to the DEn to lead the transfer of responsibilities. At the same time, Ministerial oversight was transferred from the DEn to the Department of Employment. The Offshore Safety Act 1992 made the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971 and its subsidiary Regulations relevant statutory provisions of the Health and Safety at work etc., Act 1974. The OSD's initial responsibilities included the establishment of the Safety Case Regulations; a thorough review of existing safety legislation and the move towards a goal setting regulatory regime. OSD became part of the HSE's new Hazardous Installations Directorate in 1999; it became part of the new Energy Division in 2013.

OSHCR (Occupational Safety & Health Consultants Register)

The HSE currently administrates the Occupational Safety & Health Consultants Register (

OSHCR The Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR) is a public register of UK-based health and safety advice consultants, set up to assist UK employers and business owners with general advice on workplace health and safety issues. T ...

), a central register of registered safety consultants within the United Kingdom. The intention of the HSE is to pass responsibility of operating the register to the relevant trade & professional bodies once the register is up and running.

Personnel

Directors general of the Health and Safety Executive

List of directors general: * January 1975 - December 1983:

John Howard Locke John Howard Locke CB (26 December 1923 – 26 September 1998) was a British civil servant in the Department of Employment; the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; the Cabinet Office; and the Ministry of Transport. He was instrumental in ...

CB (b. 26 December 1923, d. 26 September 1998) * January 1984 - 30 June 1995:

John David Rimington John David Rimington, CB (born 1935) is a retired British civil servant. Born in 1935, Rimington attended Jesus College, Cambridge, before completing on National Service in the Army. He entered HM Civil Service in 1959 as an official in the Boa ...

CB (b. 27 June 1935) * 3 July 1995 – 30 Sept 2000: Jennifer (Jenny) Helen Bacon CB (b. 16 April 1945) * 1 October 2000 – November 2005: Timothy Edward Hanson Walker CB (b. 27 July 1945) * November 2005 - 31 March 2008: Geoffrey John Freeman Podger CB (b. 3 August 1952) The HSE and the Health and Safety Commission merged on 1 April 2008.

Deputy directors general of the Health and Safety Executive

* (Lois) Audrey Pittom CB (b. 1918, d. 1990) 1975-78 * Bryan Hugh Harvey (b. 1914, d. 2004) 1975-76 * James Carver (b. 1916, d. 2007) 1976-77 * Eric Williams (b. 1915, d. 1980) 1975-76 * (Herbert) John Dunster CB (b. 1922, d. 2006) 1976-82 * Dr Kenneth Playfair Duncan (b. 1924, d. 1999) 1982-84 * David Charles Thomas Eves CB (b. 1942) 1989-2002 * Jenny Helen Bacon CB (b. 1945) 1992-95 * Richard Hillier CB 1996-2001 * Kate Timms 2001-04 * (James) Justin McCracken (b. 1955) 2002-08 * Jonathan Rees 2004-08 The HSE and the Health and Safety Commission merged on 1 April 2008.

Chair and chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive

Chairs: * Dame Judith Elizabeth Hackitt CBE (b. 1 December 1954) 1 April 2008 – 31 March 2016 * George Brechin interim chair April 2016 * Martin Temple CBE 1 May 2016 - 31 July 2020 *

Sarah Newton Sarah Louise Newton, ( Hick; 19 July 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Truro and Falmouth from 2010 to 2019. Early life Born in Gloucestershire, Newton moved to Cornwall at an earl ...

from 1 August 2020 - Date. Chief Executives: * Geoffrey John Freeman Podger CB (b. 3 August 1952) 1 April 2008 – 31 August 2013 * (Denis) Kevin Myers CBE (b. 30 September 1954) Acting Chief Executive 1 September 2013 – 9 November 2014 * Richard Judge (b. 2 November 1962) 10 November 2014 – 17 August 2018 * David Snowball Acting Chief Executive 15 June 2018 – 1 September 2019 * Sarah Albon 1 September 2019 - date

Heads of OSD

* Dr Anthony (Tony) Charles Barrell (b.1933) CB, FEng, BSc, D Eng, FIChemE, Eur Ing (Chief Executive), April 1991 - June 1994 * Roderick Stuart Allison (b.1936), CB, (Chief Executive) July 1994 - 1996 * Dr Allan Douglas Sefton (b. 1945), 1996 - June 2000 * T.A.F. Powell, June 2000 - December 2005 * Ian Whewell, January 2006 - October 2009 * Steve Walker, October 2009 - March 2013

Criticism

Some of the criticism of HSE has been that its procedures are inadequate to protect safety. For example, the public enquiry by Lord Gill into the

Stockline Plastics factory explosion On 11 May 2004, the ICL Plastics factory (commonly referred to as Stockline Plastics factory), in the Woodside district of Maryhill, Glasgow in western Scotland, exploded. Nine people were killed, including two company directors, and 33 injured, ...

criticised the HSE for "inadequate appreciation of the risks associated with buried LPG pipework…and a failure properly to carry out check visits". However, most criticism of the HSE is that their regulations are over-broad, suffocating, and part of a nanny state. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' has claimed that the HSE is part of a " compensation culture," that it is undemocratic and unaccountable, and that its rules are costing jobs. However, the HSE denies this, saying that much of the criticism is misplaced because it relates to matters outside the HSE's remit. The HSE also responded to criticism by publishing a "Myth of the Month" section on its website between 2007 and 2010, which it described as "exposing the various myths about 'health and safety'". This has become a political issue in the UK. The Lord Young report, published in October 2010, recommended various reforms aiming "to free businesses from unnecessary bureaucratic burdens and the fear of having to pay out unjustified damages claims and legal fees."

Areas of regulation

The HSE focuses regulation of health and safety in the following sectors of industry: *

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

*Air transport * Armed forces *Catering and hospitality *

Construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form Physical object, objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Pr ...

industries *

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

establishments *Chemical manufacture and storage industries *

Professional diving Professional diving is underwater diving where the divers are paid for their work. The procedures are often regulated by legislation and codes of practice as it is an inherently hazardous occupation and the diver works as a member of a team. D ...

* Dockwork *

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

sector e.g. schools *

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

sector *

Entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

and

leisure Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisur ...

industry *

Fire service A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

*Food and drink manufacturing *Footwear and leather industries *

Haulage Haulage is the business of transporting goods by road or rail between suppliers and large consumer outlets, factories, warehouses, or depots. This includes everything humans might wish to move in bulk - from vegetables and other foodstuffs, to cloth ...

* Health services e.g. hospitals *Gas supply and installation; Gas Safe Register *Laundries and dry-cleaning *

Mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

*Motor vehicle repair *Office work * Offshore oil and gas installations *Paper and board manufacturing industry * Pesticides *

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

forces *

Printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

industries *

Public services A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

*The

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

ing industry *

Recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

and

waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitorin ...

industries * Textiles industries

References

External links

HSE websiteHSL website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Health And Safety Executive 1974 establishments in the United Kingdom Department for Work and Pensions Health and safety in the United Kingdom Law enforcement agencies of England and Wales Law enforcement agencies of Scotland Law enforcement agencies of Wales Medical and health regulators Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Occupational safety and health organizations Organisations based in Liverpool Organizations established in 1974 Regulators of the United Kingdom Safety organizations