Powers of Health and Safety enforcement officers Flashcards
1.1 Key Requirements of health and safety legislation (7 cards)
What is the HSE?
The Health and Safety executive (HSE) is the government-appointed body responsible for enforcing workplace health, safety and welfare legislation. It analyses data relating to health and safety and produce codes of practice and general guidance. The HSE is the enforcing authroity for the land-based sector but mainly agricultural activities.
What is Agricultural activities?
Including cultrication of ground, sowing and harvesting of crops, horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, livestock breeding and keeping, forestry, the use of land as grazing land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the preperation of land for agricultural use.
What is the LAs?
Local Authorities (LAs)
The LAs are the mainenforcing responsibility. They share this duty with the HSE.
What do the HSE inspectors do?
Inspect, investigate and provide support and guidance.
The are allowed to have a wide-range of powers, including:
- entering work premises at a reasonable time; they may enter at any time without prior warning if they believe there is imminent danger.
- requiring those present to provide facilities and assistance, including answering questions to enable the inspector to undertake their work.
- collecting photos, recordings, and samples or measurements, or taking possession of articles and substances, or inspecting and taking copies of documents.
If they find any dangerous activities during the visit, they can stop work activities immediately .
What consequences can be given for non-compliance
- receiving verbal or written advice
- being issued with a notification on contravention if there has been a material breach of a health and safety duty.
- being issue with an in=mprovement notice
- being issued with a prohibition notice
- being prosecuted.
What is a material breach?
A contravention of health and safety law that an HSE inspector considers to be sufficiently serious that they need to write to the duty holder formally requiring them to take action to deal with it: the duty holder (the employer/self-employed) is then required to pay the HSE for the time it has taken to identify the breach and support the duty holder to deal with the breach.
What is the penalties of prosecution
If the prosecution is successful, the penalties are a fine of imprisonment.
