Health and Safety Executive

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), reporting to the Health and Safety Commission, is the British government body responsible for the regulation of risks to health and safety in the UK. It was created as a result of 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 (though the latter was transferred to the Office of Rail Regulation in April 2006. Governmentally, the HSE forms part of the Department of Work and Pensions. As part of its work HSE investigates industrial accidents, such as the high profile explosion and fire at Buncefield in 2005.

In October 2006, the HSE launched its Better Backs campaign, using a fictional rockband (Bäackpain) in a series of humorous^{[citation needed]} adverts, to help tackle problems caused by back pain in the UK.

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

Agriculture
Air transport
Armed forces
Catering & hospitality
Construction industries
Crown establishments
Chemical manufacture and storage industries
Professional diving
Dockwork
Education sector e.g schools
Engineering sector
Entertainment & leisure industry
Fire Service
Food & drink manufacture
Footwear and leather industries
Haulage
Health Services e.g. hospitals
Gas supply and installation; CORGI
Laundries and dry-cleaning
Mining
Motor Vehicle Repair
Nuclear installations Nuclear Installations Inspectorate aka NII
Office work
Offshore gas and oil installations
Paper and board manufacturing industry
Police Force
Printing industries
Public services
The Quarry industry
Recycling and waste management industries
Textiles industries

The HSE was formerly responsible for railway safety, but this responsibility was transferred to the Office of Rail Regulation in 2006.

Local government bodies are responsible to the HSE for the enforcement of safety laws in shops, offices, and other parts of the service sector.

Agencies belonging to the HSE include The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL).Based in Buxton, Derbyshire, it employs over 350 people including scientists, engineers, psychologists, social scientists, health professionals and technical specialists. The services they provide include:

Research and development
Specialist advice and consultancy
Forensic investigation into the causes of accidents
Environmental and biological monitoring
Assessment of levels of risk and investigation of their control
Establishing realistic requirements for standards, and processes for meeting those standards
Validation and certification