Part I Health, Safety and Welfare
in connection with Work, and Control of Dangerous Substances and Certain
Emissions into the Atmosphere
Preliminary
1. (1) The provisions of this Part shall have effect
with a Preliminary. view to
(A) securing the health, safety and welfare of
persons at work;
(B) protecting persons other than persons at work
against risks to health or safety arising out of or in connection with
the activities of persons at work;
(C) controlling the keeping and use of explosive
or highly flammable or otherwise dangerous substances, and generally
preventing the unlawful acquisition, possession and use of such substances;
and
(D) controlling the emission into the atmosphere
of noxious or offensive substances from premises of any class prescribed
for the purposes of this paragraph.
(2) The provisions of this Part relating to the making
of health and safety regulations and agricultural health and safety regulations
and the preparation and approval of codes of practice shall in particular
have effect with a view to enabling the enactments specified in the third
column of Schedule 1 and the regulations, orders and other instruments
in force under those enactments to be progressively replaced by a system
of regulations and approved codes of practice operating in combination
with the other provisions of this Part and designed to maintain or improve
the standards of health, safety and welfare established by or under those
enactments.
(3) For the purposes of this Part risks arising out
of or in connection with the activities of persons at work shall be treated
as including risks attributable to the manner of conducting an undertaking,
the plant or substances used for the purposes of an undertaking and the
condition of premises so used or any part of them.
(4) References in this Part to the general purposes
of this Part are references to the purposes mentioned in subsection (1)
above.
General duties
General duties of employers to their employees
2. (1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure,
so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at
work of all his employees.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of an employer's
duty under the preceding subsection, the matters to which that duty extends
include in particular
(A) the provision and maintenance of plant and
systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe
and without risks to health;
(B) arrangements for ensuring, so far as is reasonably
practicable, safety and absence of risks to health in connection with
the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;
(C) the provision of such information, instruction,
training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably
practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees;
(D) so far as is reasonably practicable as regards
any place of work under the employer's control, the maintenance of it
in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision
and maintenance of means of access to and egress from it that are safe
and without such risks;
(E) the provision and maintenance of a working environment
for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe,
without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements
for their welfare at work.
(3) Except in such cases as may be prescribed, it
shall be the duty of every employer to prepare and as often as may be
appropriate revise a written statement of his general policy with respect
to the health and safety at work of his employees and the organisation
and arrangements for the time being in force for carrying out that policy,
and to bring the statement and any revision of it to the notice of all
of his employees.
(4) Regulations made by the Secretary of State may
provide for the appointment in prescribed cases by recognised trade unions
(within the meaning of the regulations) of safety representatives from
amongst the employees, and those representatives shall represent the employees
in consultations with the employers under subsection (6) below and shall
have such other functions as may be prescribed.
(5) Regulations made by the Secretary of State may
provide for the election in prescribed cases by employees of safety representatives
from amongst the employees, and those representatives shall represent
the employees in consultations with the employers under subsection (6)
below and may have such other functions as may be prescribed.
(6) It shall be the duty of every employer to consult
any such representatives with a view to the making and maintenance of
arrangements which will enable him and his employees to cooperate effectively
in promoting and developing measures to ensure the health and safety at
work of the employees, and in checking the effectiveness of such measures.
(7) In such cases as may be prescribed it shall be
the duty of every employer, if requested to do so by the safety representatives
mentioned in subsections (4) and (5) above, to establish, in accordance
with regulations made by the Secretary of State, a safety committee having
the function of keeping under review the measures taken to ensure the
health and safety at work of his employees and such other functions as
may be prescribed.
General duties of employers and
self-employed to persons other than their employees
3. (1) It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct
his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable,
that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not
thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.
(2) It shall be the duty of every self-employed person
to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably
practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may
be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or
safety.
(3) In such cases as may be prescribed, it shall be
the duty of every employer and every self-employed person, in the prescribed
circumstances and in the prescribed manner, to give to persons (not being
his employees) who may be affected by the way in which he conducts his
undertaking the prescribed information about such aspects of the way in
which he conducts his undertaking as might affect their health or safety.
General duties of persons concerned
with premises to persons other than their employees
4. (1) This section has effect for imposing on persons
duties in relation to those who
(A) are not their employees; but
(B) use non-domestic premises made available to
them as a place of work or as a place where they may use plant or substances
provided for their use there,
and applies to premises so made available and other
non-domestic premises used in connection with them.
(2) It shall be the duty of each person who has, to
any extent, control of premises to which this section applies or of the
means of access thereto or egress therefrom or of any plant or substance
in such premises to take such measures as it is reasonable for a person
in his position to take to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable,
that the premises, all means of access thereto or egress therefrom available
for use by persons using the premises, and any plant or substance in the
premises or, as the case may be, provided for use there, is or are safe
and without risks to health.
(3) Where a person has, by virtue of any contract
or tenancy, an obligation of any extent in relation to
(A) the maintenance or repair of any premises to
which this section applies or any means of access thereto or egress
therefrom; or
(B) the safety of or the absence of risks to health
arising from plant or substances in any such premises; that person shall
be treated, for the purposes of subsection (2) above, as being a person
who has control of the matters to which his obligation extends.
(4) Any reference in this section to a person having
control of any premises or matter is a reference to a person having control
of the premises or matter in connection with the carrying on by him of
a trade, business or other undertaking (whether for profit or not).
General duty of persons in control
of certain premises in relation to harmful emissions into atmosphere
5. (1) It shall be the duty of the person having control
of any premises of a class prescribed for the purposes of section 1(1)(D)
to us the best practicable means for preventing the emission into the
atmosphere from the premises of noxious or offensive substances and for
rendering harmless and inoffensive such substances as may be so emitted.
(2) The reference in subsection (1) above to the means
to be used for the purposes there mentioned includes a reference to the
manner in which the plant provided for those purposes is used and to the
supervision of any operation involving the emission of the substances
to which that subsection applies.
(3) Any substance or a substance of any description
prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1) above as noxious or offensive
shall be a noxious or, as the case may be, an offensive substance for
those purposes whether or not it would be so apart from this subsection.
(4) Any reference in this section to a person having
control of any premises is a reference to a person having control of the
premises in connection with the carrying on by him of a trade, business
or other undertaking (whether for profit or not) and any duty imposed
on any such person by this section shall extend only to matters within
his control.
General duties of manufacturers
etc. as regards articles and substances for use at work
6. (1) It shall be the duty of any person who designs,
manufactures, imports or supplies any article for use at work
(A) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable,
that the article is so designed and constructed as to be safe and without
risks to health when properly used;
(B) to carry out or arrange for the carrying out
of such testing and examination as may be necessary for the performance
of the duty imposed on him by the preceding paragraph;
(C) to take such steps as are necessary to secure
that there will be available in connection with the use of the article
at work adequate information about the use for which it is designed
and has been tested, and about any conditions necessary to ensure that,
when put to that use, it will be safe and without risks to health.
(2) It shall be the duty of any person who undertakes
the design or manufacture of any article for use at work to carry out
or arrange for the carrying out of any necessary research with a view
to the discovery and, so far as is reasonably practicable, the elimination
or minimisation of any risks to health or safety to which the design or
article may give rise.
(3) It shall be the duty of any person who erects
or installs any article for use at work in any premises where that article
is to be used by persons at work to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable,
that nothing about the way in which it is erected or installed makes it
unsafe or a risk to health when properly used.
(4) It shall be the duty of any person who manufactures,
imports or supplies any substance for use at work
(A) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable,
that the substance is safe and without risks to health when properly
used;
(B) to carry out or arrange for the carrying out
of such testing and examination as may be necessary for the performance
of the duty imposed on him by the preceding paragraph;
(C) to take such steps as are necessary to secure
that there will be available in connection with the use of the substance
at work adequate information about the results of any relevant tests
which have been carried out on or in connection with the substance and
about any conditions necessary to ensure that it will be safe and without
risks to health when properly used.
(5) It shall be the duty of any person who undertakes
the manufacture of any substance for use at work to carry out or arrange
for the carrying out of any necessary research with a view to the discovery
and, so far as is reasonably practicable, the elimination or minimisation
of any risks to health or safety to which the substance may give rise.
(6) Nothing in the preceding provisions of this section
shall be taken to require a person to repeat any testing, examination
or research which has been carried out otherwise than by him or at his
instance, in so far as it is reasonable for him to rely on the results
thereof for the purposes of those provisions.
(7) Any duty imposed on any person by any of the preceding
provisions of this section shall extend only to things done in the course
of a trade, business or other undertaking carried on by him (whether for
profit or not) and to matters within his control.
(8) Where a person designs, manufactures, imports
or supplies an article for or to another on the basis of a written undertaking
by that other to take specified steps sufficient to ensure, so far as
is reasonably practicable, that the article will be safe and without risks
to health when properly used, the undertaking shall have the effect of
relieving the first-mentioned person from the duty imposed by subsection
(1)(A) above to such extent as is reasonable having regard to the terms
of the undertaking.
(9) Where a person ("the ostensible supplier")
supplies any article for use at work or substance for use at work to another
("the customer") under a hire-purchase agreement, conditional
sale agreement or credit-sale agreement, and the ostensible supplier
(A) carries on the business of financing the acquisition
of goods by others by means of such agreements; and
(B) in the course of that business acquired his
interest in the article or substance supplied to the customer as a means
of financing its acquisition by the customer from a third person ("the
effective supplier"),
The effective supplier and not the ostensible supplier
shall be treated for the purposes of this section as supplying the article
or substance to the customer, and any duty imposed by the preceding provisions
of this section on suppliers shall accordingly fall on the effective supplier
and not on the ostensible supplier.
(10) For the purposes of this section an article or
substance is not to be regarded as properly used where it is used without
regard to any relevant information or advice relating to its use which
has been made available by a person by whom it was designed, manufactured,
imported or supplied.
General duties of employees at
work
7. It shall be the duty of every employee while at
work
(A) to take reasonable care for the health and safety
of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions
at work; and
(B) as regards any duty or requirement imposed on
his employer or any other person by or under any of the relevant statutory
provisions, to co-operate with him so far as is necessary to enable
that duty or requirement to be performed or complied with.
Duty not to interfere with or misuse
things provided pursuant to certain provisions
8. No person shall intentionally or recklessly interfere
with or misuse anything provided in the interests of health, safety or
welfare in pursuance of any of the relevant statutory provisions.
Duty not to charge employees for
things done or provided pursuant to certain specific requirements
9. No employer shall levy or permit to be levied on
any employee of his any charge in respect of anything done or provided
in pursuance of any specific requirement of the relevant statutory provisions.
The Health and Safety Commission
and the Health and Safety Executive
Establishment of the Commission and the Executive
10. (1) There shall be two bodies corporate to be
called the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive
which shall be constituted in accordance with the following provisions
of this section.
(2) The Health and Safety Commission (hereafter in
this Act referred to as "the Commission") shall consist of a
chairman appointed by the Secretary of State and not less than six nor
more than nine other members appointed by the Secretary of State in accordance
with subsection (3) below.
(3) Before appointing the members of the Commission
(other than the chairman) the Secretary of State shall
(A) as to three of them, consult such organisations
representing employers as he considers appropriate;
(B) as to three others, consult such organisations
representing employees as he considers appropriate; and
(C) as to any other members he may appoint, consult
such organisations representing local authorities and such other organisations,
including professional bodies, the activities of whose members are concerned
with matters relating to any of the general purposes of this Part, as
he considers appropriate.
(4) The Secretary of State may appoint one of the
members to be deputy chairman of the Commission.
(5) The Health and Safety Executive (hereafter in
this Act referred to as "the Executive") shall consist of three
persons of whom one shall be appointed by the Commission with the approval
of the Secretary of State to be the director of the Executive and the
others shall be appointed by the Commission with the like approval after
consultation with the said director.
(6) The provisions of Schedule 2 shall have effect
with respect to the Commission and the Executive.
(7) The functions of the Commission and of the Executive,
and of their officers and servants, shall be performed on behalf of the
Crown.
General functions of the Commission
and the Executive
11. (1) In addition to the other functions conferred
on the Commission by virtue of this Act, but subject to subsection (3)
below, it shall be the general duty of the Commission to do such things
and make such arrangements as it considers appropriate for the general
purposes of this Part except as regards matters relating exclusively to
agricultural operations.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Commission, except
as aforesaid
(A) to assist and encourage persons concerned with
matters relevant to any of the general purposes of this Part to further
those purposes;
(B) to make such arrangements as it considers appropriate
for the carrying out of research, the publication of the results of
research and the provision of training and information in connection
with those purposes, and to encourage research and the provision of
training and information in that connection by others;
(C) to make such arrangements as it considers appropriate
for securing that government departments, employers, employees, organisations
representing employers and employees respectively, and other persons
concerned with matters relevant to any of those purposes are provided
with an information and advisory service and are kept informed of, and
adequately advised on, such matters;
(D) to submit from time to time to the authority
having power to make regulations under any of the relevant statutory
provisions such proposals as the Commission considers appropriate for
the making of regulations under that power.
(3) It shall be the duty of the Commission
(A) to submit to the Secretary of State from time
to time particulars of what it proposes to do for the purpose of performing
its functions; and
(B) subject to the following paragraph, to ensure
that its activities are in accordance with proposals approved by the
Secretary of State; and
(C) to give effect to any directions given to it
by the Secretary of State.
(4) In addition to any other functions conferred on
the Executive by virtue of this Part, it shall be the duty of the Executive
(A) to exercise on behalf of the Commission such
of the Commission's functions as the Commission directs it to exercise;
and
(B) to give effect to any directions given to it
by the Commission otherwise than in pursuance of paragraph (A) above;
but, except for the purpose of giving effect to directions given to
the Commission by the Secretary of State, the Commission shall not give
to the Executive any directions as to the enforcement of any of the
relevant statutory provisions in a particular case.
(5) Without prejudice to subsection (2) above, it
shall be the duty of the Executive, if so requested by a Minister of the
Crown
(A) to provide him with information about the activities
of the Executive in connection with any matter with which he is concerned;
and
(B) to provide him with advice on any matter with
which he is concerned on which relevant expert advice is obtainable
from any of the officers or servants of the Executive but which is not
relevant to any of the general purposes of this Part.
(6) The Commission and the Executive shall, subject
to any directions given to it in pursuance of this Part, have power to
do anything (except borrow money) which is calculated to facilitate, or
is conducive or incidental to, the performance of any function of the
Commission or, as the case may be, the Executive (including a function
conferred on it by virtue of this subsection).
Control of the Commission by the
Secretary of State
12. The Secretary of State may
(A) approve with or without modifications, any proposals
submitted to him in pursuance of section 11(3) (A);
(B) give to the Commission at any time such directions
as he thinks fit with respect to its functions (including directions
modifying its functions, but not directions conferring on it functions
other than any of which it was deprived by previous directions given
by virtue of this paragraph), and any directions which it appears to
him requisite or expedient to give in the interests of the safety of
the State.
Other powers of the Commission
13. (1) The Commission shall have power
(A) to make agreements with any government department
or other person for that department or person to perform on behalf of
the Commission or the Executive (with or without payment) any of the
functions of the Commission or, as the case may be, of the Executive;
B) subject to subsection (2) below, to make agreements
with any Minister of the Crown, government department or other public
authority for the Commission to perform on behalf of that Minister,
department or authority (with or without payment) functions exercisable
by the Minister, department or authority (including, in the case of
a Minister, functions not conferred by an enactment), being functions
which in the opinion of the Secretary of State can appropriately be
performed by the Commission in connection with any of the Commission's
functions;
(C) to provide (with or without payment) services
or facilities required otherwise than for the general purposes of this
Part in so far as they are required by any government department or
other public authority in connection with the exercise by that department
or authority of any of its functions;
(D) to appoint persons or committees of persons
to provide the Commission with advice in connection with any of its
functions and (without prejudice to the generality of the following
paragraph) to pay to persons so appointed such remuneration as the Secretary
of State may with the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service
determine;
(E) in connection with any of the functions of the
Commission, to pay to any person such travelling and subsistence allowances
and such compensation for loss of remunerative time as the Secretary
of State may with the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service
determine;
(F) to carry out or arrange for or make payments
in respect of research into any matter connected with any of the Commission's
functions, and to disseminate or arrange for or make payments in respect
of the dissemination of information derived from such research;
(G) to include, in any arrangements made by the
Commission for the provision of facilities or services by it or on its
behalf, provision for the making of payments to the Commission or any
person acting on its behalf by other parties to the arrangements and
by persons who use those facilities or services.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1)(B) shall authorise the
Commission to perform any function of a Minister, department or authority
which consists of a power to make regulations or other instruments of
a legislative character.
Power of the Commission to direct
investigations and inquiries
14. (1) This section applies to the following matters,
that is to say any accident, occurrence, situation or other matter whatsoever
which the Commission thinks it necessary or expedient to investigate for
any of the general purposes of this Part or with a view to the making
of regulations for those purposes; and for the purposes of this subsection
it is immaterial whether the Executive is or is not responsible for securing
the enforcement of such (if any) of the relevant statutory provisions
as relate to the matter in question.
(2) The Commission may at any time
(A) direct the Executive or authorise any other
person to investigate and make a special report on any matter to which
this section applies; or
(B) with the consent of the Secretary of State direct
inquiry to be held into any such matter; but shall not do so in any
particular case that appears to the Commission to involve only matters
relating exclusively to agricultural operation.
(3) Any inquiry held by virtue of subsection (2)(B)
above shall be held in accordance with regulations made for the purposes
of this subsection by the Secretary of State, and shall be held in public
except where or to the extent that the regulations provide otherwise.
(4) Regulations made for the purposes of subsection
(3) above may in particular include provision
(A) conferring on the person holding any such inquiry,
and any person assisting him in the inquiry, powers of entry and inspection;
(B) conferring on any such person powers of summoning
witnesses to give evidence or produce documents and power to take evidence
on oath and administer oaths or require the making of declarations;
(C) requiring any such inquiry to be held otherwise
than in public where or to the extent that a Minister of the Crown so
directs.
(5) In the case of a special report made by virtue
of subsection (2)(A) above or a report made by the person holding an inquiry
held by virtue of subsection (2)(B) above, the Commission may cause the
report, or so much of it as the Commission thinks fit, to be made public
at such time and in such manner as the Commission thinks fit.
(6) The Commission
(A) in the case of an investigation and special
report made by virtue of subsection (2)(A) above (otherwise than by
an officer or servant of the Executive), may pay to the person making
it such remuneration and expenses as the Secretary of State may, with
the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service, determine;
(B) in the case of an inquiry held by virtue of
subsection (2)(B) above, may pay to the person holding it and to any
assessor appointed to assist him such remuneration and expenses, and
to persons attending the inquiry as witnesses such expenses, as the
Secretary of State may, with the like approval, determine; and
(C) may, to such extent as the Secretary of State
may determine, defray the other costs, if any, of any such investigation
and special report or inquiry.
(7) Where an inquiry is directed to be held by virtue
of subsection (2)(B) above into any matter to which this section applies
arising in Scotland, being a matter which causes the death of any person,
no inquiry with regard to that death shall, unless the Lord Advocate otherwise
directs, be held in pursuance of the Fatal Accidents Inquiry (Scotland)
Act 1895. {1895 c. 36.}
Health and safety regulations
and approved codes of practice
Health and safety regulations
15. (1) Subject to the provisions of section 50, the
Secretary of State shall have power to make regulations under this section
(in this part referred to as "health and safety regulations")
for any of the general purposes of this Part except as regards matters
relating exclusively to agricultural operations.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the preceding
subsection, health and safety regulations may for any of the general purposes
of this Part make provision for any of the purposes mentioned in Schedule
3.
(3) Health and safety regulations
(A) may repeal or modify any of the existing statutory
provisions;
(B) may exclude or modify in relation to any specified
class of case any of the provisions of sections 2 to 9 or any of the
existing statutory provisions;
(C) may make a specified authority or class of authorities
responsible, to such extent as may be specified, for the enforcement
of any of the relevant statutory provisions.
(4) Health and safety regulations
(A) may impose requirements by reference to the
approval of the Commission or any other specified body or person;
(B) may provide for references in the regulations
to any specified document to operate as references to that document
as revised or re-issued from time to time.
(5) Health and safety regulations
(A) may provide (either unconditionally or subject
to conditions, and with or without limit of time) for exemptions from
any requirement or prohibition imposed by or under any of the relevant
statutory provisions;
(B) may enable exemptions from any requirement or
prohibition imposed by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions
to be granted (either unconditionally or subject to conditions, and
with or without limit of time) by any specified person or by any person
authorised in that behalf by a specified authority.
(6) Health and safety regulations
(A) may specify the persons or classes of persons
who, in the event of a contravention of a requirement or prohibition
imposed by or under the regulations, are to be guilty of an offence,
whether in addition to or to the exclusion of other persons or classes
of persons;
(B) may provide for any specified defence to be
available in proceedings for any offence under the relevant statutory
provisions either generally or in specified circumstances;
(C) may exclude proceedings on indictment in relation
to offences consisting of a contravention of a requirement or prohibition
imposed by or under any of the existing statutory provisions, sections
2 to 9 or health and safety regulations;
(D) may restrict the punishments which can be imposed
in respect of any such offence as is mentioned in paragraph (C) above.
(7) Without prejudice to section 35, health and safety
regulations may make provision for enabling offences under any of the
relevant statutory provisions to be treated as having been committed at
any specified place for the purpose of bringing any such offence within
the field of responsibility of any enforcing authority or conferring jurisdiction
on any court to entertain proceedings for any such offence.
(8) Health and safety regulations may take the form
of regulations applying to particular circumstances only or to a particular
case only (for example, regulations applying to particular premises only).
(9) If an Order in Council is made under section 84(3)
providing that this section shall apply to or in relation to persons,
premises or work outside Great Britain then, notwithstanding the Order,
health and safety regulations shall not apply to or in relation to aircraft
in flight, vessels, hovercraft or offshore installations outside Great
Britain or persons at work outside Great Britain in connection with submarine
cables or submarine pipelines except in so far as the regulations expressly
so provide.
(10) In this section "specified" means specified
in health and safety regulations.
Approval of codes of practice
by the Commission
16. (1) For the purpose of providing practical guidance
with respect to the requirements of any provision of sections 2 to 7 or
of health and safety regulations or of any of the existing statutory provisions,
the Commission may, subject to the following subsection and except as
regards matters relating exclusively to agricultural operations
(A) approve and issue such codes of practice (whether
prepared by it or not) as in its opinion are suitable for that purpose;
(B) approve such codes of practice issued or proposed
to be issued otherwise than by the Commission as in its opinion are
suitable for that purpose.
(2) The Commission shall not approve a code of practice
under subsection (1) above without the consent of the Secretary of State,
and shall, before seeking his consent, consult
(A) any government department or other body that
appears to the Commission to be appropriate (and, in particular, in
the case of a code relating to electro-magnetic radiations, the National
Radiological Protection Board); and
(B) such government departments and other bodies,
if any, as in relation to any matter dealt with in the code, the Commission
is required to consult under this section by virtue of directions given
to it by the Secretary of State.
(3) Where a code of practice is approved by the Commission
under subsection (1) above, the Commission shall issue a notice in writing
(A) identifying the code in question and stating
the date on which its approval by the Commission is to take effect;
and
(B) specifying for which of the provisions mentioned in subsection (1)
above the code is approved.
(4) The Commission may
(A) from time to time revise the whole or any part
of any code of practice prepared by it in pursuance of this section;
(B) approve any revision or proposed revision of
the whole or any part of any code of practice for the time being approved
under this section;
and the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) above shall, with the
necessary modifications, apply in relation to the approval of any revision
under this subsection as they apply in relation to the approval of a
code of practice under subsection (1) above.
(5) The Commission may at any time with the consent
of the Secretary of State withdraw its approval from any code of practice
approved under this section, but before seeking his consent shall consult
the same government departments and other bodies as it would be required
to consult under subsection (2) above if it were proposing to approve
the code.
(6) Where under the preceding subsection the Commission
withdraws its approval from a code of practice approved under this section,
the Commission shall issue a notice in writing identifying the code in
question and stating the date on which its approval of it is to cease
to have effect.
(7) References in this Part to an approved code of
practice are references to that code as it has effect for the time being
by virtue of any revision of the whole or any part of it approved under
this section.
(8) The power of the Commission under subsection (1)(B)
above to approve a code of practice issued or proposed to be issued otherwise
than by the Commission shall include power to approve a part of such a
code of practice; and accordingly in this Part "code of practice"
may be read as including a part of such a code of practice.
Use of approved codes of practice
in criminal proceedings
17. (1) A failure on the part of any person to observe
any provision of an approved code of practice shall not of itself render
him liable to any civil or criminal proceedings; but where in any criminal
proceedings a party is alleged to have committed an offence by reason
of a contravention of any requirement or prohibition imposed by or under
any such provision as is mentioned in section 16(1) being a provision
for which there was an approved code of practice at the time of the alleged
contravention, the following subsection shall have effect with respect
to that code in relation to those proceedings.
(2) Any provision of the code of practice which appears
to the court to be relevant to the requirement or prohibition alleged
to have been contravened shall be admissible in evidence in the proceedings;
and if it is proved that there was at any material time a failure to observe
any provision of the code which appears to the court to be relevant to
any matter which it is necessary for the prosecution to prove in order
to establish a contravention of that requirement or prohibition, that
matter shall be taken as proved unless the court is satisfied that the
requirement or prohibition was in respect of that matter complied with
otherwise than by way of observance of that provision of the code.
(3) In any criminal proceedings
(A) a document purporting to be a notice issued
by the Commission under section 16 shall be taken to be such a notice
unless the contrary is proved; and (B) a code of practice which appears
to the court to be the subject of such a notice shall be taken to be
the subject of that notice unless the contrary is proved.
Enforcement
Authorities responsible for enforcement of the relevant statutory provisions
18. (1) It shall be the duty of the Executive to make
adequate arrangements for the enforcement of the relevant statutory provisions
except to the extent that some other authority or class of authorities
is by any of those provisions or by regulations under subsection (2) below
made responsible for their enforcement.
(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations
(A) make local authorities responsible for the enforcement
of the relevant statutory provisions to such extent as may be prescribed;
(B) make provision for enabling responsibility for
enforcing any of the relevant statutory provisions to be, to such extent
as may be determined under the regulations
(i) transferred from the Executive to local authorities
or from local authorities to the Executive; or
(ii) assigned to the Executive or to local authorities
for the purpose of removing any uncertainty as to what are by virtue
of this subsection their respective responsibilities for the enforcement
of those provisions; and any regulations made in pursuance of paragraph
(B) above shall include provision for securing that any transfer or
assignment effected under the regulations is brought to the notice of
persons affected by it.
(3) Any provision made by regulations under the preceding
subsection shall have effect subject to any provision made by health and
safety regulations or agricultural health and safety regulations in pursuance
of section 15(3)(C).
(4) It shall be the duty of every local authority
(A) to make adequate arrangements for the enforcement
within their area of the relevant statutory provisions to the extent
that they are by any of those provisions or by regulations under subsection
(2) above made responsible for their enforcement; and
(B) to perform the duty imposed on them by the preceding
paragraph and any other functions conferred on them by any of the relevant
statutory provisions in accordance with such guidance as the Commission
may give them.
(5) Where any authority other than the appropriate
Agriculture Minister, the Executive or a local authority is by any of
the relevant statutory provisions or by regulations under subsection (2)
above made responsible for the enforcement of any of those provisions
to any extent, it shall be the duty of that authority
(A) to make adequate arrangements for the enforcement
of those provisions to that extent; and
(B) to perform the duty imposed on the authority
by the preceding paragraph and any other functions conferred on the
authority by any of the relevant statutory provisions in accordance
with such guidance as the Commission may give to the authority.
(6) Nothing in the provisions of this Act or of any
regulations made thereunder charging any person in Scotland with the enforcement
of any of the relevant statutory provisions shall be construed as authorising
that person to institute proceedings for any offence.
(7) In this Part
(A) "enforcing authority" means the Executive
or any other authority which is by any of the relevant statutory provisions
or by regulations under subsection (2) above made responsible for the
enforcement of any of those provisions to any extent; and
(B) any reference to an enforcing authority's field
of responsibility is a reference to the field over which that authority's
responsibility for the enforcement of those provisions extends for the
time being;
but where by virtue of paragraph (A) of section 13(1)
the performance of any function of the Commission or the Executive is
delegated to a government department or person, references to the Commission
or the Executive (or to an enforcing authority where that authority is
the Executive) in any provision of this Part which relates to that function
shall, so far as may be necessary to give effect to any agreement under
that paragraph, be construed as references to that department or person;
and accordingly any reference to the field of responsibility of an enforcing
authority shall be construed as a reference to the field over which that
department or person for the time being performs such a function.
Appointment of inspectors
19. (1) Every enforcing authority may appoint as inspectors
(under whatever title it may from time to time determine) such persons
having suitable qualifications as it thinks necessary for carrying into
effect the relevant statutory provisions within its field of responsibility,
and may terminate any appointment made under this section.
(2) Every appointment of a person as an inspector
under this section shall be made by an instrument in writing specifying
which of the powers conferred on inspectors by the relevant statutory
provisions are to be exercisable by the person appointed; and an inspector
shall in right of his appointment under this section
(A) be entitled to exercise only such of those powers
as are so specified; and
(B) be entitled to exercise the powers so specified
only within the field of responsibility of the authority which appointed
him.
(3) So much of an inspector's instrument of appointment
as specifies the powers which he is entitled to exercise may be varied
by the enforcing authority which appointed him.
(4) An inspector shall, if so required when exercising
or seeking to exercise any power conferred on him by any of the relevant
statutory provisions, produce his instrument of appointment or a duly
authenticated copy thereof.
Powers of inspectors
20. (1) Subject to the provisions of section 19 and
this section, an inspector may, for the purpose of carrying into effect
any of the relevant statutory provisions within the field of responsibility
of the enforcing authority which appointed him, exercise the powers set
out in subsection (2) below.
(2) The powers of an inspector referred to in the
preceding subsection are the following, namely
(A) at any reasonable time (or, in a situation which
in his opinion is or may be dangerous, at any time) to enter any premises
which he has reason to believe it is necessary for him to enter for
the purpose mentioned in subsection (1) above);
(B) to take with him a constable if he has reasonable
cause to apprehend any serious obstruction in the execution of his duty;
(C) without prejudice to the preceding paragraph,
on entering any premises by virtue of paragraph (A) above to take with
him
(i) any other person duly authorised by his (the
inspector's) enforcing authority; and
(ii) any equipment or materials required for any
purpose for which the power of entry is being exercised;
(D) to make such examination and investigation as
may in any circumstances be necessary for the purpose mentioned in subsection
(1) above;
(E) as regards any premises which he has power to
enter, to direct that those premises or any part of them, or anything
therein, shall be left undisturbed (whether generally or in particular
respects) for so long as is reasonably necessary for the purpose of
any examination or investigation under paragraph (D) above;
(F) to take such measurements and photographs and
make such recordings as he considers necessary for the purpose of any
examination or investigation under paragraph (D) above;
(G) to take samples of any articles or substances
found in any premises which he has power to enter, and of the atmosphere
in or in the vicinity of any such premises;
(H) in the case of any article or substance found
in any premises which he has power to enter, being an article or substance
which appears to him to have caused or to be likely to cause danger
to health or safety, to cause it to be dismantled or subjected to any
process or test (but not so as to damage or destroy it unless this is
in the circumstances necessary for the purpose mentioned in subsection
(1) above);
(I) in the case of any such article or substance
as is mentioned in the preceding paragraph, to take possession of it
and detain it for so long as is necessary for all or any of the following
purposes, namely
(i) to examine it and do to it anything which he
has power to do under that paragraph;
(ii) to ensure that it is not tampered with before
his examination of it is completed;
(iii) to ensure that it is available for use as
evidence in any proceedings for an offence under any of the relevant
statutory provisions or any proceedings relating to a notice under section
21 or 22;
(J) to require any person whom he has reasonable
cause to believe to be able to give any information relevant to any
examination or investigation under paragraph (D) above to answer (in
the absence of persons other than a person nominated by him to be present
and any persons whom the inspector may allow to be present) such questions
as the inspector thinks fit to ask and to sign a declaration of the
truth of his answers;
(K) to require the production of, inspect, and take
copies of or of any entry in
(i) any books or documents which by virtue of any
of the relevant statutory provisions are required to be kept; and
(ii) any other books or documents which it is necessary
for him to see for the purposes of any examination or investigation
under paragraph (D) above;
(L) to require any person to afford him such facilities
and assistance with respect to any matter or things within that person's
control or in relation to which that person has responsibilities as
are necessary to enable the inspector to exercise any of the powers
conferred on him by this section;
(M) any other power which is necessary for the purpose
mentioned in subsection (1) above.
(3) The Secretary of State may by regulations make
provision as to the procedure to be followed in connection with the taking
of samples under subsection (2)(G) above (including provision as to the
way in which samples that have been so taken are to be dealt with).
(4) Where an inspector proposes to exercise the power
conferred by subsection (2)(H) above in the case of an article or substance
found in any premises, he shall, if so requested by a person who at the
time is present in and has responsibilities in relation to those premises,
cause anything which is to be done by virtue of that power to be done
in the presence of that person unless the inspector considers that its
being done in that person's presence would be prejudicial to the safety
of the State.
(5) Before exercising the power conferred by subsection
(2)(H) above in the case of any article or substance, an inspector shall
consult such persons as appear to him appropriate for the purpose of ascertaining
what dangers, if any, there may be in doing anything which he proposes
to do under that power.
(6) Where under the power conferred by subsection
(2)(I) above an inspector takes possession of any article or substance
found in any premises, he shall leave there, either with a responsible
person or, if that is impracticable, fixed in a conspicuous position,
a notice giving particulars of that article or substance sufficient to
identify it and stating that he has taken possession of it under that
power; and before taking possession of any such substance under that power
an inspector shall, if it is practicable for him to do so, take a sample
thereof and give to a responsible person at the premises a portion of
the sample marked in a manner sufficient to identify it.
(7) No answer given by a person in pursuance of a
requirement imposed under subsection (2)(J) above shall be admissible
in evidence against that person or the husband or wife of that person
in any proceedings.
(8) Nothing in this section shall be taken to compel
the production by any person of a document of which he would on grounds
of legal professional privilege be entitled to withhold production on
an order for discovery in an action in the High Court or, as the case
may be, on an order for the production of documents in an action in the
Court of Session.
Improvement notices
21. If an inspector is of the opinion that a person
(A) is contravening one or more of the relevant
statutory provisions; or
(B) has contravened one or more of those provisions
in circumstances that make it likely that the contravention will continue
or be repeated,
he may serve on him a notice (in this Part referred to as "an improvement
notice") stating that he is of that opinion, specifying the provision
or provisions as to which he is of that opinion, giving particulars
of the reasons why he is of that opinion, and requiring that person
to remedy the contravention or, as the case may be, the matters occasioning
it within such period (ending not earlier than the period within which
an appeal against the notice can be brought under section 24) as may
be specified in the notice.
Prohibition notices
22. (1) This section applies to any activities which
are being or are about to be carried on by or under the control of any
person, being activities to or in relation to which any of the relevant
statutory provisions apply or will, if the activities are so carried on,
apply.
(2) If as regards any activities to which this section
applies an inspector is of the opinion that, as carried on or about to
be carried on by or under the control of the person in question, the activities
involve or, as the case may be, will involve a risk of serious personal
injury, the inspector may serve on that person a notice (in this Part
referred to as "a prohibition notice").
(3) A prohibition notice shall
(A) state that the inspector is of the said opinion;
(B) specify the matters which in his opinion give
or, as the case may be, will give rise to the said risk;
(C) where in his opinion any of those matters involves
or, as the case may be, will involve a contravention of any of the relevant
statutory provisions, state that he is of that opinion, specify the
provision or provisions as to which he is of that opinion, and give
particulars of the reasons why he is of that opinion; and
(D) direct that the activities to which the notice
relates shall not be carried on by or under the control of the person
on whom the notice is served unless the matters specified in the notice
in pursuance of paragraph (B) above and any associated contraventions
of provisions so specified in pursuance of paragraph (C) above have
been remedied.
(4) A direction given in pursuance of subsection (3)(D)
above shall take immediate effect if the inspector is of the opinion,
and states it, that the risk of serious personal injury is or, as the
case may be, will be imminent, and shall have effect at the end of a period
specified in the notice in any other case.
Provisions supplementary to ss.
21 and 22
23. (1) In this section "a notice" means an improvement notice
or a prohibition notice.
(2) A notice may (but need not) include directions
as to the measures to be taken to remedy any contravention or matter to
which the notice relates; and any such directions
(A) may be framed to any extent by reference to
any approved code of practice; and
(B) may be framed so as to afford the person on
whom the notice is served a choice between different ways of remedying
the contravention or matter.
(3) Where any of the relevant statutory provisions
applies to a building or any matter connected with a building and an inspector
proposes to serve an improvement notice relating to a contravention of
that provision in connection with that building or matter, the notice
shall not direct any measures to be taken to remedy the contravention
of that provision which are more onerous than those necessary to secure
conformity with the requirements of any building regulations for the time
being in force to which that building or matter would be required to conform
if the relevant building were being newly erected unless the provision
in question imposes specific requirements more onerous than the requirements
of any such building regulations to which the building or matter would
be required to conform as aforesaid.
In this subsection "the relevant building", in the case of a
building, means that building, and, in the case of a matter connected
with a building, means the building with which the matter is connected.
(4) Before an inspector serves in connection with
any premises used or about to be used as a place of work a notice requiring
or likely to lead to the taking of measures affecting the means of escape
in case of fire with which the premises are or ought to be provided, he
shall consult the fire authority.
In this subsection "fire authority" has the meaning assigned
by section 43(1) of the Fire Precautions Act 1971. {1971 c. 40.}
(5) Where an improvement notice or a prohibition notice
which is not to take immediate effect has been served
(A) the notice may be withdrawn by an inspector
at any time before the end of the period specified therein in pursuance
of section 21 or section 22(4) as the case may be; and
(B) the period so specified may be extended or further
extended by an inspector at any time when an appeal against the notice
is not pending.
(6) In the application of this section to Scotland
(A) in subsection (3) for the words from "with
the requirements" to "aforesaid" there shall be substituted
the words
"(A) to any provisions of the building standards regulations to
which that building or matter would be required to conform if the relevant
building were being newly erected; or
(B) where the sheriff, on an appeal to him under
section 16 of the Building (Scotland) Act 1959 {1959 c. 24.}
(i) against an order under section 10 of that Act
requiring the execution of operations necessary to make the building
or matter conform to the building standards regulations, or
(ii) against an order under section 11 of that Act
requiring the building or matter to conform to a provision of such regulations,
has varied the order, to any provisions of the building standards regulations
referred to in paragraph (A) above as affected by the order as so varied,
unless the relevant statutory provision imposes specific requirements
more onerous than the requirements of any provisions of building standards
regulations as aforesaid or, as the case may be, than the requirements
of the order as varied by the sheriff.";
(B) after subsection (5) there shall be inserted
the following subsection
"(5A) In subsection (3) above `building standards
regulations' has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Building (Scotland)
Act 1959.".
Appeal against improvement or
prohibition notice
24. (1) In this section "a notice" means
an improvement notice or a prohibition notice.
(2) A person on whom a notice is served may within
such period from the date of its service as may be prescribed appeal to
an industrial tribunal; and on such an appeal the tribunal may either
cancel or affirm the notice and, if it affirms it, may be so either in
its original form or with such modifications as the tribunal may in the
circumstances think fit.
(3) Where an appeal under this section is brought
against a notice within the period allowed under the preceding subsection,
then
(A) in the case of an improvement notice, the bringing
of the appeal shall have the effect of suspending the operation of the
notice until the appeal is finally disposed of or, if the appeal is
withdrawn, until the withdrawal of the appeal;
(B) in the case of a prohibition notice, the bringing
of the appeal shall have the like effect if, but only if, on the application
of the appellant the tribunal so directs (and then only from the giving
of the direction).
(4) One or more assessors may be appointed for the
purposes of any proceedings brought before an industrial tribunal under
this section.
Power to deal with cause of imminent
danger
25. (1) Where, in the case of any article or substance
found by him in any premises which he has power to enter, an inspector
has reasonable cause to believe that, in the circumstances in which he
finds it, the article or substance is a cause of imminent danger of serious
personal injury, he may seize it and cause it to be rendered harmless
(whether by destruction or otherwise).
(2) Before there is rendered harmless under this section
(A) any article that forms part of a batch of similar
articles; or
(B) any substance,
the inspector shall, if it is practicable for him to do so, take a sample
thereof and give to a responsible person at the premises where the article
or substance was found by him a portion of the sample marked in a manner
sufficient to identify it.
(3) As soon as may be after any article or substance
has been seized and rendered harmless under this section, the inspector
shall prepare and sign a written report giving particulars of the circumstances
in which the article or substance was seized and so dealt with by him,
and shall
(A) give a signed copy of the report to a responsible
person at the premises where the article or substance was found by him;
and
(B) unless that person is the owner of the article
or substance, also serve a signed copy of the report on the owner;
and if, where paragraph (B) above applies, the inspector cannot after
reasonable enquiry ascertain the name or address of the owner, the copy
may be served on him by giving it to the person to whom a copy was given
under the preceding paragraph.
Power of enforcing authorities
to indemnify their inspectors
26. Where an action has been brought against an inspector
in respect of an act done in the execution or purported execution of any
of the relevant statutory provisions and the circumstances are such that
he is not legally entitled to require the enforcing authority which appointed
him to indemnify him, that authority may, nevertheless, indemnify him
against the whole or part of any damages and costs or expenses which he
may have been ordered to pay or may have incurred, if the authority is
satisfied that he honestly believed that the act complained of was within
his powers and that his duty as an inspector required or entitled him
to do it. Obtaining and disclosure of information
Obtaining of information by the
Commission, the Executive, enforcing authorities etc.
27. (1) For the purpose of obtaining
(A) any information which the Commission needs for
the discharge of its functions; or
(B) any information which an enforcing authority
needs for the discharge of the authority's functions,
the Commission may, with the consent of the Secretary of State, serve
on any person a notice requiring that person to furnish to the Commission
or, as the case may be, to the enforcing authority in question such
information about such matters as may be specified in the notice, and
to do so in such form and manner and within such time as may be so specified.
In this subsection "consent" includes a
general consent extending to cases of any stated description.
(2) Nothing in section 9 of the Statistics of Trade
Act 1947 {1947 c. 39.} (which restricts the disclosure of information
obtained under that Act) shall prevent or penalise
(A) the disclosure by a Minister of the Crown to
the Commission or the Executive of information obtained under that Act
about any undertaking within the meaning of that Act, being information
consisting of the names and address of the persons carrying on the undertaking,
the nature of the undertaking's activities, the numbers of persons of
different descriptions who work in the undertaking, the addresses or
places where activities of the undertaking are or were carried on, the
nature of the activities carried on there, or the numbers of persons
of different descriptions who work or worked in the undertaking there;
or
(B) the disclosure by the Manpower Services Commission,
the Employment Service Agency or the Training Services Agency to the
Commission or the Executive of information so obtained which is of a
kind specified in a notice in writing given to the disclosing body and
the recipient of the information by the Secretary of State under this
paragraph.
(3) In the preceding subsection any reference to a
Minister of the Crown, the Commission, the Executive, the Manpower Services
Commission or either of the said Agencies includes respectively a reference
to an officer of his or of that body and also, in the case of a reference
to the Commission, includes a reference to
(A) a person performing any functions of the Commission
or the Executive on its behalf by virtue of section 13(1)(A);
(B) an officer of a body which is so performing
any such functions; and
(C) an adviser appointed in pursuance of section
13(1)(D).
(4) A person to whom information is disclosed in pursuance
of subsection (2) above shall not use the information for a purpose other
than a purpose of the Commission or, as the case may be, of the Executive.
Restrictions on disclosure of
information
28. (1) In this and the two following subsections
(A) "relevant information" means information
obtained by a person under section 27(1) or furnished to any person
in pursuance of a requirement imposed by any of the relevant statutory
provisions; and
(B) "the recipient", in relation to any
relevant information, means the person by whom that information was
so obtained or to whom that information was so furnished, as the case
may be.
(2) Subject to the following subsection, no relevant
information shall be disclosed without the consent of the person by whom
it was furnished.
(3) The preceding subsection shall not apply to
(A) disclosure of information to the Commission,
the Executive, a government department or any enforcing authority;
(B) without prejudice to paragraph (A) above, disclosure
by the recipient of information to any person for the purpose of any
function conferred on the recipient by or under any of the relevant
statutory provisions;
(C) without prejudice to paragraph (A) above, disclosure
by the recipient of information to
(i) an officer of a local authority who is authorised
by that authority to receive it,
(ii) an officer of a water authority or water development
board who is authorised by that authority or board to receive it,
(iii) an officer of a river purification board who
is authorised by that board to receive it, or
(iv) a constable authorised by a chief officer of
police to receive it;
(D) disclosure by the recipient of information in
a form calculated to prevent it from being identified as relating to
a particular person or case;
(E) disclosure of information for the purposes of
any legal proceedings or any investigation or inquiry held by virtue
of section 14(2), or for the purposes of a report of any such proceedings
or inquiry or of a special report made by virtue of section 14(2).
(4) In the preceding subsection any reference to the
Commission, the Executive, a government department or an enforcing authority
includes respectively a reference to an officer of that body or authority
(including, in the case of an enforcing authority, any inspector appointed
by it), and also, in the case of a reference to the Commission, includes
a reference to
(A) a person performing any functions of the Commission
or the Executive on its behalf by virtue of section 13(1)(A);
(B) an officer of a body which is so performing
any such functions; and
(C) an adviser appointed in pursuance of section
13(1)(D).
(5) A person to whom information is disclosed in pursuance
of subsection (3) above shall not use the information for a purpose other
than
(A) in a case falling within paragraph (A) of that
subsection, a purpose of the Commission or of the Executive or of the
government department in question, or the purposes of the enforcing
authority in question in connection with the relevant statutory provisions,
as the case may be;
(B) in the case of information given to an officer
of a local authority or of a water authority or of a river purification
board or water development board, the purposes of the authority or board
in connection with the relevant statutory provisions or any enactment
whatsoever relating to public health, public safety or the protection
of the environment;
(C) in the case of information given to a constable,
the purposes of the police in connection with the relevant statutory
provisions or any enactment whatsoever relating to public health, public
safety or the safety of the State.
(6) In subsections (3)(C) and (5) above, before 16th
May 1975, the references to a water authority in their application to
Scotland shall be construed as references to a regional water board.
(7) A person shall not disclose any information obtained
by him as a result of the exercise of any power conferred by section 14(4)(A)
or 20 (including, in particular, any information with respect to any trade
secret obtained by him in any premises entered by him by virtue of any
such power) except
(A) for the purposes of his functions; or
(B) for the purposes of any legal proceedings or
any investigation or inquiry held by virtue of section 14(2) or for
the purposes of a report of any such proceedings or inquiry or of a
special report made by virtue of section 14(2); or
(C) with the relevant consent.
In this subsection "the relevant consent" means, in the case
of information furnished in pursuance of a requirement imposed under
section 20, the consent of the person who furnished it, and, in any
other case, the consent of a person having responsibilities in relation
to the premises where the information was obtained.
(8) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding subsection
an inspector shall, in circumstances in which it is necessary to do so
for the purpose of assisting in keeping persons (or the representatives
of persons) employed at any premises adequately informed about matters
affecting their health, safety and welfare, give to such persons or their
representatives the following descriptions of information, that is to
say
(A) factual information obtained by him as mentioned
in that subsection which relates to those premises or anything which was
or is therein or was or is being done therein; and
(B) information with respect to any action which he
has taken or proposes to take in or in connection with those premises
in the performance of his functions;
and, where an inspector does as aforesaid, he shall give the like information
to the employer of the first- mentioned persons.
Special provisions relating to
agriculture
General functions of Ministers responsible
for agriculture in relation to the relevant
agricultural purposes
29. (1) It shall be the duty of the appropriate Agriculture
Minister
(A) to do such things and make such arrangements
as he considers appropriate for the relevant agricultural purposes;
and
(B) to make such arrangements as he considers appropriate
for securing that employers, employees, organisations representing employers
and employees respectively, and other persons concerned with matters
relevant to any of those purposes are kept informed of, and adequately
advised on, such matters.
(2) The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
shall make an annual report to Parliament of his proceedings under the
relevant statutory provisions, and may include that report in the annual
report made to Parliament in pursuance of section 13 of the Agricultural
Wages Act 1948. {1948 c. 47.}
(3) The Secretary of State concerned with agriculture
in Scotland shall make an annual report to Parliament of his proceedings
under the relevant statutory provisions.
Agricultural health and safety
regulations
30. (1) Regulations under this section (in this Part
referred to as "agricultural health and safety regulations".)
may be made for any of the relevant agricultural purposes.
(2) Agricultural health and safety regulations may
be either regulations applying to Great Britain and made by the Minister
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State acting jointly,
or regulations applying to England and Wales only and made by the said
Minister, or regulations applying to Scotland only and made by the Secretary
of State.
(3) Where health and safety regulations make provision
for any purpose with respect to a matter that relates to (but not exclusively
to) agricultural operations
(A) provision for that purpose shall not be made
with respect to that matter by agricultural health and safety regulations
so as to have effect while the first-mentioned provision is in force
except for the purpose of imposing requirements additional to those
imposed by health and safety regulations, being additional requirements
which in the opinion of the authority making the agricultural health
and safety regulations are necessary or expedient in the special circumstances
of agricultural operations; and
(B) in the event of any inconsistency between the
first-mentioned provision and any provision made with respect to that
matter by agricultural health and safety regulations, the first-mentioned
provision shall prevail.
(4) The provision of section 15(2) to (10) and Schedule
3 shal have effect in relation to agricultural health and safety regulations
as they have effect in relation to health and safety regulations subject
to the following modifications, that is to say
(A) references to the relevant statutory provisions
or the existing statutory provisions shall be read as references to
such of those provisions as relate to agriculture;
(B) in section 15(4) the references to the Commission
shall be read as references to the appropriate Agriculture Minister;
(C) in section 15(6) and (10) and paragraph 23 of
Schedule 3, the reference to health and safety regulations shall be
read as a reference to agricultural health and safety regulations.
(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection
(1) above, agricultural health and safety regulations may, as regards
agricultural licences under any of the relevant statutory provisions,
make provision for requiring the authority having power to issue, renew,
vary, transfer or revoke such licenses to notify
(A) any applicant for the issue, renewal, variation
or transfer of such a licence of any proposed decision of the authority
to refuse the application; or
(B) the holder of such a licence of any proposed
decision of the authority to revoke the licence or to vary any term,
condition or restriction on or subject to which the licence is held;
and for enabling persons aggrieved by any such proposed decision to
make representations to, or to a person appointed by, the relevant authority
within the period and in the manner prescribed by the regulations.
(6) In relation to any agricultural health and safety
regulations made in pursuance of paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 as applied
by this section, subsection (2) above shall have effect as if after the
words "Great Britain" there were inserted the words "or
the United Kingdom".
Enforcement of the relevant statutory
provisions in connection with agriculture
31. Subject to any provision made by regulations under
section 15, 18 or 30, it shall be the duty of the appropriate Agriculture
Minister to make adequate arrangements for the enforcement of the relevant
statutory provisions in their application to matters relating exclusively
to the relevant agricultural purposes.
Application of provisions of this Part in connection
with agriculture.
32. (1) The following provisions of this section shall
have effect with a view to the application of certain provisions of this
Part in relation to the Agriculture Ministers or matters relating exclusively
to the relevant agricultural purposes.
(2) Subject to the following subsection
(A) sections 13, 14, 17(3), 27 and 28 shall apply
in relation to the appropriate Agriculture Minister as they apply in
relation to the Commission;
(B) section 16 shall apply in relation to matters
relating exclusively to the relevant agricultural purposes as it applies
in relation to other matters.
(3) In their application as provided by the preceding
subsection, the provisions of this Part which are specified in the first
column of Schedule 4 shall have effect subject to the modifications provided
for in the second column of that Schedule.
Provisions as to offences
Offences
33. (1) It is an offence for a person
(A) to fail to discharge a duty to which he is subject
by virtue of sections 2 to 7;
(B) to contravene section 8 or 9;
(C) to contravene any health and safety regulations
or agricultural health and safety regulations or any requirement or
prohibition imposed under any such regulations (including any requirement
or prohibition to which he is subject by virtue of the terms of or any
condition or restriction attached to any licence, approval, exemption
or other authority issued, given or granted under the regulations);
(D) to contravene any requirement imposed by or
under regulations under section 14 or intentionally to obstruct any
person in the exercise of his powers under that section;
(E) to contravene any requirement imposed by an
inspector under section 20 or 25;
(F) to prevent or attempt to prevent any other person
from appearing before an inspector or from answering any question to
which an inspector may by virtue of section 20(2) require an answer;
(G) to contravene any requirement or prohibition
imposed by an improvement notice or a prohibition notice (including
any such notice as modified on appeal);
(H) intentionally to obstruct an inspector in the
exercise or performance of his powers or duties;
(I) to contravene any requirement imposed by a notice
under section 27(1);
(J) to use or disclose any information in contravention
of section 27(4) or 28;
(K) to make a statement which he knows to be false
or recklessly to make a statement which is false where the statement
is made
(i) in purported compliance with a requirement to
furnish any information imposed by or under any of the relevant statutory
provisions; or
(ii) for the purpose of obtaining the issue of a
document under any of the relevant statutory provisions to himself or
another person;
(L) intentionally to make a false entry in any register,
book, notice or other document required by or under any of the relevant
statutory provisions to be kept, served or given or, with intent to
deceive, to make use of any such entry which he knows to be false;
(M) with intent to deceive, to forge or use a document
issued or authorised to be issued under any of the relevant statutory
provisions or required for any purpose thereunder or to make or have
in his possession a document so closely resembling any such document
as to be calculated to deceive;
(N) falsely to pretend to be an inspector;
(O) to fail to comply with an order made by a court
under section 42.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph
(D), (F), (H) or (N) of subsection (1) above, or of an offence under paragraph
(E) of that subsection consisting of contravening a requirement imposed
by an inspector under section 20, shall be liable on summary conviction
to a fine not exceeding £400.
(3) Subject to any provision made by virtue of section
15(6)(D) or by virtue of paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 3, a person guilty
of an offence under any paragraph of subsection (1) above not mentioned
in the preceding subsection, or of an offence under subsection (1)(E)
above not falling within the preceding subsection, or of an offence under
any of the existing statutory provisions being an offence for which no
other penalty is specified, shall be liable
(A) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding
£400;
(B) on conviction on indictment
(i) if the offence is one to which this sub-paragraph applies, to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding two years, or a fine, or both;
(ii) if the offence is not one to which the preceding sub-paragraph
applies, to a fine.
(4) Subsection (3)(B)(i) above applies to the following
offences
(A) an offence consisting of contravening any of
the relevant statutory provisions by doing otherwise than under the
authority of a licence issued by the Executive or the appropriate Agriculture
Minister something for the doing of which such a licence is necessary
under the relevant statutory provisions;
(B) an offence consisting of contravening a term
of or a condition or restriction attached to any such licence as is
mentioned in the preceding paragraph;
(C) an offence consisting of acquiring or attempting
to acquire, possessing or using an explosive article or substance (within
the meaning of any of the relevant statutory provisions) in contravention
of any of the relevant statutory provisions;
(D) an offence under subsection (1)(G) above consisting
of contravening a requirement or prohibition imposed by a prohibition
notice;
(E) an offence under subsection (1)(J) above.
(5) Where a person is convicted of an offence under
subsection (1)(G) or (O) above, then, if the contravention in respect
of which he was convicted is continued after the conviction he shall (subject
to section 42(3)) be guilty of a further offence and liable in respect
thereof to a fine not exceeding £50 for each day on which the contravention
is so continued.
(6) In this section "forge" has, for England
and Wales, the same meaning as in the Forgery Act 1913. {1913 c. 27.}
Extension of time for bringing
summary proceedings
34. (1) Where
(A) a special report on any matter to which section
14 of this Act applies is made by virtue of subsection (2)(A) of that
section; or
(B) a report is made by the person holding an inquiry
into any such matter by virtue of subsection (2)(B) of that section;
or
(C) a coroner's inquest is held touching the death
of any person whose death may have been caused by an accident which
happened while he was at work or by a disease which he contracted or
probably contracted at work or by any accident, act or omission which
occurred in connection with the work of any person whatsoever; or
(D) a public inquiry into any death that may have
been so caused is held under the Fatal Accidents Inquiry (Scotland)
Act 1895 {1895 c. 36.} or the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry
(Scotland) Act 1906, {1906 c. 35.}
and it appears from the report or, in a case falling within paragraph
(C) or (D) above, from the proceedings at the inquest or inquiry, that
any of the relevant statutory provisions was contravened at a time which
is material in relation to the subject-matter of the report, inquest
or inquiry, summary proceedings against any person liable to be proceeded
against in respect of the contravention may be commenced at any time
within three months of the making of the report or, in a case falling
within paragraph (C) or (D) above, within three months of the conclusion
of the inquest or inquiry.
(2) Where an offence under any of the relevant statutory
provisions is committed by reason of a failure to do something at or within
a time fixed by or under any of those provisions, the offence shall be
deemed to continue until that thing is done.
(3) Summary proceedings for an offence to which this
subsection applies may be commenced at any time within six months from
the date on which there comes to the knowledge of a responsible enforcing
authority evidence sufficient in the opinion of that authority to justify
a prosecution for that offence; and for the purposes of this subsection
(A) a certificate of an enforcing authority stating
that such evidence came to its knowledge on a specified date shall be
conclusive evidence of that fact; and
(B) a document purporting to be such a certificate
and to be signed by or on behalf of the enforcing authority in question
shall be presumed to be such a certificate unless the contrary is proved.
(4) The preceding subsection applies to any offence
under any of the relevant statutory provisions which a person commits
by virtue of any provision or requirement to which he is subject as the
designer, manufacturer, importer or supplier of anything; and in that
subsection "responsible enforcing authority" means an enforcing
authority within whose field of responsibility the offence in question
lies, whether by virtue of section 35 or otherwise.
(5) In the application of subsection (3) above to
Scotland
(A) for the words from "there comes" to
"that offence" there shall be substituted the words "evidence,
sufficient in the opinion of the enforcing authority to justify a report
to the Lord Advocate with a view to consideration of the question of
prosecution, comes to the knowledge of the authority ";
(B) at the end of paragraph (B) there shall be added
the words "and
(C) section 23(2) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Scotland)
Act 1954 {1954 c. 48.} (date of commencement of proceedings) shall have
effect as it has effect for the purposes of that section.".
Venue
35. An offence under any of the relevant statutory
provisions committed in connection with any plant or substance may, if
necessary for the purpose of bringing the offence within the field of
responsibility of any enforcing authority or conferring jurisdiction on
any court to entertain proceedings for the offence, be treated as having
been committed at the place where that plant or substance is for the time
being.
Offences due to fault of other
person
36. (1) Where the commission by any person of an offence
under any of the relevant statutory provisions is due to the act or default
of some other person, that other person shall be guilty of the offence,
and a person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue
of this subsection whether or not proceedings are taken against the first-mentioned
person.
(2) Where there would be or have been the commission
of an offence under section 33 by the Crown but for the circumstance that
that section does not bind the Crown, and that fact is due to the act
or default of a person other than the Crown, that person shall be guilty
of the offence which, but for that circumstance, the Crown would be committing
or would have committed, and may be charged with and convicted of that
offence accordingly.
(3) The preceding provisions of this section are subject
to any provision made by virtue of section 15(6).
Offences by bodies corporate
37. (1) Where an offence under any of the relevant
statutory provisions committed by a body corporate is proved to have been
committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable
to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other
similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to
act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty
of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished
accordingly.
(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed
by its members, the preceding subsection shall apply in relation to the
acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management
as if he were a director of the body corporate.
Restriction on institution of
proceedings in England and Wales
38. Proceedings for an offence under any of the relevant
statutory provisions shall not, in England and Wales, be instituted except
by an inspector or by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Prosecutions by inspectors
39. (1) An inspector, if authorised in that behalf
by the enforcing authority which appointed him, may, although not of counsel
or a solicitor, prosecute before a magistrates' court proceedings for
an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions.
(2) This section shall not apply to Scotland.
Onus of proving limits of what
is practicable etc.
40. In any proceedings for an offence under any of
the relevant statutory provisions consisting of a failure to comply with
a duty or requirement to do something so far as is practicable or so far
as is reasonably practicable, or to use the best practicable means to
do something, it shall be for the accused to prove (as the case may be)
that it was not practicable or not reasonably practicable to do more than
was in fact done to satisfy the duty or requirement, or that there was
no better practicable means than was in fact used to satisfy the duty
or requirement.
Evidence
41. (1) Where an entry is required by any of the relevant statutory provisions
to be made in any register or other record, the entry, if made, shall,
as against the person by or on whose behalf it was made, be admissible
as evidence or in Scotland sufficient evidence of the facts stated therein.
(2) Where an entry which is so required to be so made
with respect to the observance of any of the relevant statutory provisions
has not been made, that fact shall be admissible as evidence or in Scotland
sufficient evidence that that provision has not been observed.
Power of court to order cause
of offence to be remedied or, in certain cases, forfeiture
42. (1) Where a person is convicted of an offence
under any of the relevant statutory provisions in respect of any matters
which appear to the court to be matters which it is in his power to remedy,
the court may, in addition to or instead of imposing any punishment, order
him, within such time as may be fixed by the order, to take such steps
as may be specified in the order for remedying the said matters.
2) The time fixed by an order under subsection (1)
above may be extended or further extended by order of the court on an
application made before the end of that time as originally fixed or as
extended under this subsection, as the case may be.
(3) Where a person is ordered under subsection (1)
above to remedy any matters, that person shall not be liable under any
of the relevant statutory provisions in respect of those matters in so
far as they continue during the time fixed by the order or any further
time allowed under subsection (2) above.
(4) Subject to the following subsection, the court
by or before which a person is convicted of an offence such as is mentioned
in section 33(4)(C) in respect of any such explosive article or substance
as is there mentioned may order the article or substance in question to
be forfeited and either destroyed or dealt with in such other manner as
the court may order.
(5) The court shall not order anything to be forfeited
under the preceding subsection where a person claiming to be the owner
of or otherwise interested in it applies to be heard by the court, unless
an opportunity has been given to him to show cause why the order should
not be made.
Financial provisions
43. (1) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State
to pay to the Commission such sums as are approved by the Treasury and
as he considers appropriate for the purpose of enabling the Commission
to perform its functions; and it shall be the duty of the Commission to
pay to the Executive such sums as the Commission considers appropriate
for the purpose of enabling the Executive to perform its functions.
(2) Regulations may provide for such fees as may be
fixed by or determined under the regulations to be payable for or in connection
with the performance by or on behalf of any authority to which this subsection
applies of any function conferred on that authority by or under any of
the relevant statutory provisions.
(3) Subsection (2) above applies to the following
authorities, namely the Commission, the Executive, the Secretary of State,
the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, every enforcing authority,
and any other person on whom any function is conferred by or under any
of the relevant statutory provisions.
(4) Regulations under this section may specify the
person by whom any fee payable under the regulations is to be paid; but
no such fee shall be made payable by a person in any of the following
capacieies, namely an employee, a person seeking employment, a person
training for employment, and a person seeking training for employment.
(5) Without prejudice to section 82(3), regulations
under this section may fix or provide for the determination of different
fees in relation to different functions, or in relation to the same function
in different circumstances.
(6) The power to make regulations under this section
shall be exercisable
(A) as regards functions with respect to matters
not relating exclusively to agricultural operations, by the Secretary
of State;
(B) as regards functions with respect to matters
relating exclusively to the relevant agricultural purposes, by the appropriate
agricultural authority.
(7) Regulations under this section as regards functions
falling within subsection (6)(B) above may be either regulations applying
to Great Britain and made by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food and the Secretary of State acting jointly, or regulations applying
to England and Wales only and made by the said Minister, or regulations
applying to Scotland only and made by the Secretary of State; and in subsection
(6) (B) above "the appropriate agricultural authority" shall
be construed accordingly.
(8) In subsection (4) above the references to a person
training for employment and a person seeking training for employment shall
include respectively a person attending an industrial rehabilitation course
provided by virtue of the Employment and Training Act 1973 {1973 c. 50.}
and a person seeking to attend such a course.
(9) For the purposes of this section the performance
by an inspector of his functions shall be treated as the performance by
the enforcing authority which appointed him of functions conferred on
that authority by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions.
Miscellaneous and supplementary
Appeals in connection with licensing provisions in the relevant statutory
provisions
44. (1) Any person who is aggrieved by a decision
of an authority having power to issue licences (other than agricultural
licences and nuclear site licences) under any of the relevant statutory
provisions
(A) refusing to issue him a licence, to renew a
licence held by him, or to transfer to him a licence held by another;
(B) issuing him a licence on or subject to any term,
condition or restriction whereby he is aggrieved;
(C) varying or refusing to vary any term, condition
or restriction on or subject to which a licence is held by him; or
(D) revoking a licence held by him,
may appeal to the Secretary of State.
(2) The Secretary of State may, in such cases as he
considers it appropriate to do so, having regard to the nature of the
questions which appear to him to arise, direct that an appeal under this
section shall be determined on his behalf by a person appointed by him
for that purpose.
(3) Before the determination of an appeal the Secretary
of State shall ask the appellant and the authority against whose decision
the appeal is brought whether they wish to appear and be heard on the
appeal and
(A) the appeal may be determined without a hearing
of the parties if both of them express a wish not to appear and be heard
as aforesaid;
(B) the Secretary of State shall, if either of the
parties expresses a wish to appear and be heard, afford to both of them
an opportunity of so doing.
(4) The Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1971 {1971 c.
62.} shall apply to a hearing held by a person appointed in pursuance
of subsection (2) above to determine an appeal as it applies to a statutory
inquiry held by the Secretary of State, but as if in section 12(1) of
that Act (statement of reasons for decisions) the reference to any decision
taken by the Secretary of State included a reference to a decision taken
on his behalf by that person.
(5) A person who determines an appeal under this section
on behalf of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State, if he
determines such an appeal, may give such directions as he considers appropriate
to give effect to his determination.
(6) The Secretary of State may pay to any person appointed
to hear or determine an appeal under this section on his behalf such remuneration
and allowances as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the
Minister for the Civil Service determine.
(7) In this section
(A) "licence" means a licence under any
of the relevant statutory provisions other than an agricultural licence
or nuclear site licence;
(B) "nuclear site licence" means a licence
to use a site for the purpose of installing or operating a nuclear installation
within the meaning of the following subsection.
(8) For the purposes of the preceding subsection "nuclear
installation" means
(A) a nuclear reactor (other than such a reactor
comprised in a means of transport, whether by land, water or air); or
(B) any other installation of such class or description
as may be prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph or section 1(1)(B)
of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, {1965 c. 57.} being an installation
designed or adapted for
(i) the production or use of atomic energy; or
(ii) the carrying out of any process which is preparatory
or ancillary to the production or use of atomic energy and which involves
or is capable of causing the emission of ionising radiations; or
(iii) the storage, processing or disposal of nuclear
fuel or of bulk quantities of other radioactive matter, being matter
which has been produced or irradiated in the course of the production
or use of nuclear fuel;
and in this subsection
"atomic energy" has the meaning assigned
by the Atomic Energy Act 1946; {1946 c. 80.}
"nuclear reactor" means any plant (including
any machinery, equipment or appliance, whether affixed to land or not)
designed or adapted for the production of atomic energy by a fission
process in which a controlled chain reaction can be maintained without
an additional source of neutrons.
Default powers
45. (1) Where, in the case of a local authority who
are an enforcing authority, the Commission is of the opinion that an investigation
should be made as to whether that local authority have failed to perform
any of their enforcement functions the Commission may make a report to
the Secretary of State.
(2) The Secretary of State may, after considering
a report submitted to him under the preceding subsection, cause a local
inquiry to be held; and the provisions of subsections (2) to (5) of section
250 of the Local Government Act 1972 {1972 c. 70.} as to local inquiries
shall, without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of that section,
apply to a local inquiry so held as they apply to a local inquiry held
in pursuance of that section.
(3) If the Secretary of State is satisfied, after
having caused a local inquiry to be held into the matter, that a local
authority have failed to perform any of their enforcement functions, he
may make an order declaring the authority to be in default.
(4) An order made by virtue of the preceding subsection
which declares an authority to be in default may, for the purpose of remedying
the default, direct the authority (hereafter in this section referred
to as "the defaulting authority") to perform such of their enforcement
functions as are specified in the order in such manner as may be so specified
and may specify the time or times within which those functions are to
be performed by the authority.
(5) If the defaulting authority fail to comply with
any direction contained in such an order the Secretary of State may, instead
of enforcing the order by mandamus, make an order transferring to the
Executive such of the enforcement functions of the defaulting authority
as he thinks fit.
(6) Where any enforcement functions of the defaulting
authority are transferred in pursuance of the preceding subsection, the
amount of any expenses which the Executive certifies were incurred by
it in performing those functions shall on demand be paid to it by the
defaulting authority.
(7) Any expenses which in pursuance of the preceding
subsection are required to be paid by the defaulting authority in respect
of any enforcement functions transferred in pursuance of this section
shall be defrayed by the authority in the like manner, and shall be debited
to the like account, as if the enforcement functions had not been transferred
and the expenses had been incurred by the authority in performing them.
(8) Where the defaulting authority are required to
defray any such expenses the authority shall have the like powers for
the purpose of raising the money for defraying those expenses as they
would have had for the purpose of raising money required for defraying
expenses incurred for the purpose of the enforcement functions in question.
(9) An order transferring any enforcement functions
of the defaulting authority in pursuance of subsection (5) above may provide
for the transfer to the Executive of such of the rights, liabilities and
obligations of the authority as the Secretary of State considers appropriate;
and where such an order is revoked the Secretary of State may, by the
revoking order or a subsequent order, make such provision as he considers
appropriate with respect to any rights, liabilities and obligations held
by the Executive for the purposes of the transferred enforcement functions.
(10) The Secretary of State may by order vary or revoke
any order previously made by him in pursuance of this section.
(11) In this section "enforcement functions",
in relation to a local authority, means the functions of the authority
as an enforcing authority.
(12) In the application of this section to Scotland
(A) in subsection (2) for the words "subsections
(2) to (5) of section 250 of the Local Government Act 1972" {1972
c. 70.} there shall be substituted the words "subsections (2) to
(8) of section 210 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973",
{1973 c. 65.} except that before 16th May 1975 for the said words there
shall be substituted the words "subsections (2) to (9) of section
355 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947"; {1947 c. 43.}
(B) in subsection (5) the words "instead of
enforcing the order by mandamus" shall be omitted.
Service of notices.
46. (1) Any notice required or authorised by any of the relevant statutory
provisions to be served on or given to an inspector may be served or given
by delivering it to him or by leaving it at, or sending it by post to,
his office.
(2) Any such notice required or authorised to be served
on or given to a person other than an inspector may be served or given
by delivering it to him, or by leaving it at his proper address, or by
sending it by post to him at that address.
(3) Any such notice may
(A) in the case of a body corporate, be served on
or given to the secretary or clerk of that body;
(B) in the case of a partnership, be served on or
given to a partner or a person having the control or management of the
partnership business or, in Scotland, the firm.
(4) For the purposes of this section and of section
26 of the Interpretation Act 1889 {1889 c. 63.} (service of documents
by post) in its application to this section, the proper address of any
person on or to whom any such notice is to be served or given shall be
his last known address, except that
(A) in the case of a body corporate or their secretary
or clerk, it shall be the address of the registered or principal office
of that body;
(B) in the case of a partnership or a person having
the control or the management of the partnership business, it shall
be the principal office of the partnership;
and for the purposes of this subsection the principal office of a company
registered outside the United Kingdom or of a partnership carrying on
business outside the United Kingdom shall be their principal office
within the United Kingdom.
(5) If the person to be served with or given any such
notice has specified an address within the United Kingdom other than his
proper address within the meaning of subsection (4) above as the one at
which he or someone on his behalf will accept notices of the same description
as that notice, that address shall also be treated for the purposes of
this section and section 26 of the Interpretation Act 1889 {1889 c. 63.}
as his proper address.
(6) Without prejudice to any other provision of this
section, any such notice required or authorised to be served on or given
to the owner or occupier of any premises (whether a body corporate or
not) may be served or given by sending it by post to him at those premises,
or by addressing it by name to the person on or to whom it is to be served
or given and delivering it to some responsible person who is or appears
to be resident or employed in the premises.
(7) If the name or the address of any owner or occupier
of premises on or to whom any such notice as aforesaid is to be served
or given cannot after reasonable inquiry be ascertained, the notice may
be served or given by addressing it to the person on or to whom it is
to be served or given by the description of "owner" or "occupier"
of the premises (describing them) to which the notice relates, and by
delivering it to some responsible person who is or appears to be resident
or employed in the premises, or, if there is no such person to whom it
can be delivered, by affixing it or a copy of it to some conspicuous part
of the premises.
(8) The preceding provisions of this section shall
apply to the sending or giving of a document as they apply to the giving
of a notice.
Civil liability
47. (1) Nothing in this Part shall be construed
(A) as conferring a right of action in any civil
proceedings in respect of any failure to comply with any duty imposed
by sections 2 to 7 or any contravention of section 8; or
(B) as affecting the extent (if any) to which breach
of a duty imposed by any of the existing statutory provisions is actionable;
or
(C) as affecting the operation of section 12 of
the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 {1965 c. 57.} (right to compensation
by virtue of certain provisions of that Act).
(2) Breach of a duty imposed by health and safety
regulations or agricultural health and safety regulations shall, so far
as it causes damage, be actionable except in so far as the regulations
provide otherwise.
(3) No provision made by virtue of section 15(6)(B)
shall afford a defence in any civil proceedings, whether brought by virtue
of subsection (2) above or not; but as regards any duty imposed as mentioned
in subsection (2) above health and safety regulations or, as the case
may be, agricultural health and safety regulations may provide for any
defence specified in the regulations to be available in any action for
breach of that duty.
(4) Subsections (1)(A) and (2) above are without prejudice
to any right of action which exists apart from the provisions of this
Act, and subsection (3) above is without prejudice to any defence which
may be available apart from the provisions of the regulations there mentioned.
(5) Any term of an agreement which purports to exclude
or restrict the operation of subsection (2) above, or any liability arising
by virtue of that subsection shall be void, except in so far as health
and safety regulations or, as the case may be, agricultural health and
safety regulations provide otherwise.
(6) In this section "damage" includes the
death of, or injury to, any person (including any disease and any impairment
of a person's physical or mental condition).
Application to Crown
48. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section,
the provisions of this Part, except sections 21 to 25 and 33 to 42, and
of regulations made under this Part shall bind the Crown.
(2) Although they do not bind the Crown, sections
33 to 42 shall apply to persons in the public service of the Crown as
they apply to other persons.
(3) For the purposes of this Part and regulations
made thereunder persons in the service of the Crown shall be treated as
employees of the Crown whether or not they would be so treated apart from
this subsection.
(4) Without prejudice to section 15(5), the Secretary
of State may, to the extent that it appears to him requisite or expedient
to do so in the interests of the safety of the State or the safe custody
of persons lawfully detained, by order exempt the Crown either generally
or in particular respects from all or any of the provisions of this Part
which would, by virtue of subsection (1) above, bind the Crown.
(5) The power to make orders under this section shall
be exercisable by statutory instrument, and any such order may be varied
or revoked by a subsequent order.
(6) Nothing in this section shall authorise proceedings
to be brought against Her Majesty in her private capacity, and this subsection
shall be construed as if section 38(3) of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947
{1947 c. 44.} (interpretation of references in that Act to Her Majesty
in her private capacity) were cantained in this Act.
Adaptation of enactments to metric
units or appropriate metric units
49. (1) The appropriate Minister may by regulations
amend
(A) any of the relevant statutory provisions; or
(B) any provision of an enactment which relates
to any matter relevant to any of the general purposes of this Part but
is not among the relevant statutory provisions; or
(C) any provision of an instrument made or having
effect under any such enactment as is mentioned in the preceding paragraph,
by substituting an amount or quantity expressed in metric units for
an amount or quantity not so expressed or by substituting an amount
or quanity expressed in metric units of a description specified in the
regulations for an amount or quantity expressed in metric units of a
different description.
(2) The amendments shall be such as to preserve the
effect of the provisions mentioned except to such extent as in the opinion
of the appropriate Minister is necessary to obtain amounts expressed in
convenient and suitable terms.
(3) Regulations made by the appropriate Minister under
this subsection may, in the case of a provision which falls within any
of paragraphs (A) to (C) of subsection (1) above and contains words which
refer to units other than metric units, repeal those words if the appropriate
Minister is of the opinion that those words could be omitted without altering
the effect of that provision.
(4) In this section the appropriate Minister means
(A) in relation to any provision not relating exclusively
to agricultural operations the Secretary of State;
(B) in relation to any provision relating exclusively
to the relevant agricultural purposes that applies to Great Britain
or the United Kingdom the Agriculture Ministers;
(C) in relation to any provision so relating that
applies to England and Wales only, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food;
(D) in relation to any provision so relating that
applies to Scotland only, the Secretary of State.
Regulations under the relevant
statutory provisions
50. (1) Subject to subsection (5) below any power
to make regulations conferred on the Secretary of State by any of the
relevant statutory provisions may be exercised by him either so as to
give effect (with or without modifications) to proposals for the making
of regulations by him under that power submitted to him by the Commission
or independently of any such proposals, but before making any regulations
under any of those provisions independently of any such proposals the
Secretary of State shall consult the Commission and such other bodies
as appear to him to be appropriate.
(2) Where the Secretary of State proposes to exercise
any such power as is mentioned in the preceding subsection so as to give
effect to any such proposals as are there mentioned with modifications,
he shall, before making the regulations, consult the Commission.
(3) Where the Commission proposes to submit to the
Secretary of State any such proposals as are mentioned in subsection (1)
above except proposals for the making of regulations under section 43(2),
it shall, before so submitting them, consult
(A) any government department or other body that
appears to the Commission to be appropriate (and, in particular, in
the case of proposals for the making of regulations under section 18(2),
any body representing local authorities that so appears, and, in the
case of proposals for the making of regulations relating to electro-magnetic
radiations, the National Radiological Protection Board);
(B) such government departments and other bodies,
if any, as, in relation to any matter dealt with in the proposals, the
Commission is required to consult under this subsection by virtue of
directions given to it by the Secretary of State.
(4) Where the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food and the Secretary of State or either of them propose or proposes
to make any regulations under any of the relevant statutory provisions,
they or he shall before making the regulations consult the Commission
and such other bodies as appear to them or him to be appropriate.
(5) Subsections (1) to (3) above shall not apply to
any power of the Secretary of State to make regulations which is capable
of being exercised by him for Great Britain jointly with the Minister
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Exclusion of application to domestic
employment
51. Nothing in this Part shall apply in relation to
a person by reason only that he employs another, or is himself employed,
as a domestic servant in a private household.
Meaning of work and at work
52. (1) For the purposes of this Part
(A) "work" means work as an employee or
as a self-employed person;
(B) an employee is at work throughout the time when
he is in the course of his employment, but not otherwise; and
(C) a self-employed person is at work throughout
such time as he devotes to work as a self-employed person;
and, subject to the following subsection, the expressions "work"
and "at work", in whatever context, shall be construed accordingly.
(2) Regulations made under this subsection may
(A) extend the meaning of "work" and "at
work" for the purposes of this Part; and
(B) in that connection provide for any of the relevant
statutory provisions to have effect subject to such adaptations as may
be specified in the regulations.
(3) The power to make regulations under subsection
(2) above shall be exercisable
(A) in relation to activities not relating exclusively
to agricultural operations, by the Secretary of State;
(B) in relation to activities relating exclusively
to the relevant agricultural purposes, by the appropriate agriculture
authority.
(4) Regulations under subsection (2) above in relation
to activities falling within subsection (3)(B) above may be either regulations
applying to Great Britain and made by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food and the Secretary of State acting jointly, or regulations applying
to England and Wales only and made by the said Minister, or regulations
applying to Scotland only and made by the Secretary of State; and in subsection
(3)(B) above "the appropriate agriculture authority" shall be
construed accordingly.
General interpretation of Part
I
53. (1) In this Part, unless the context otherwise
requires
"agriculture", subject to subsection (3)
below, includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming,
livestock breeding and keeping (including themanagement of livestock
up to the point of slaughter or export from Great Britain), forestry,
the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens
and nursery grounds, and the preparation of land for agricultural use,
and "agricultural" shall be construed accordingly;
"the Agriculture Ministers" means the
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State
and, in the case of anything falling to be done by the Agriculture Ministers,
means those Ministers acting jointly;
"agricultural health and safety regulations"
has the meaning assigned by section 30(1);
"agricultural licence" means a licence
of the Agriculture Ministers or either of them under any of the relevant
statutory provisions;
"agricultural operation" does not include
an agricultural operation performed otherwise than in the course of
a trade, business or other undertaking (whether carried on for profit
or not) but, subject to subsection (2) below, includes any operation
incidental to agriculture which is performed in the course of such a
trade, business or undertaking;
"the appropriate Agriculture Minister"
means, for the purpose of the application of any of the relevant statutory
provisions to England and Wales, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food, and, for the purpose of the application of any of those provisions
to Scotland, the Secretary of State;
"article for use at work" means
(A) any plant designed for use or operation (whether exclusively or
not) by persons at work, and
(B) any article designed for use as a component in any such plant;
"code of practice" (without prejudice
to section 16(8)) includes a standard, a specification and any other
documentary form of practical guidance;
"the Commission" has the meaning assigned
by section 10(2);
"conditional sale agreement" means an
agreement for the sale of goods under which the purchase price or part
of it is payable by instalments, and the property in the goods is to
remain in the seller (notwithstanding that the buyer is to be in possession
of the goods) until such conditions as to the payment of instalments
or otherwise as may be specified in the agreement are fulfilled;
"contract of employment" means a contract
of employment or apprenticeship (whether express or implied and, if
express, whether oral or in writing);
"credit-sale agreement" means an agreement
for the sale of goods, under which the purchase price or part of it
is payable by instalments, but which is not a conditional sale agreement;
"domestic premises" means premises occupied
as a private dwelling (including any garden, yard, garage, outhouse
or other appurtenance of such premises which is not used in common by
the occupants of more than one such dwelling), and "non-domestic
premises" shall be construed accordingly;
"employee" means an individual who works
under a contract of employment, and related expressions shall be construed
accordingly;
"enforcing authority" has the meaning
assigned by section 18(7);
"the Executive" has the meaning assigned
by section 10(5);
"the existing statutory provisions" means
the following provisions while and to the extent that they remain in
force, namely the provisions of the Acts mentioned in Schedule 1 which
are specified in the third column of that Schedule and of the regulations,
orders or other instruments of a legislative character made or having
effect under any provision so specified;
"forestry" includes
(A) the felling of trees and the extraction and primary conversion of
trees within the wood or forest in which they were grown, and
(B) the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the
use of land for other agricultural purposes;
"the general purposes of this Part" has
the meaning assigned by section 1;
"health and safety regulations" has the
meaning assigned by section 15(1);
"hire-purchase agreement" means an agreement
other than a conditional sale agreement, under which
(A) goods are bailed or (in Scotland) hired in return for periodical
payments by the person to whom they are bailed or hired; and
(B) the property in the goods will pass to that person if the terms
of the agreement are complied with and one or more of the following
occurs:
(i) the exercise of an option to purchase by that person;
(ii) the doing of any other specified act by any party to the agreement;
(iii) the happening of any other event; and "hire-purchase"
shall be construed accordingly;
"improvement notice" means a notice under
section 21;
"inspector" means an inspector appointed
under section 19;
"livestock" includes any creature kept
for the production of food, wool, skins or fur, or for the purpose of
its use in the carrying on of any agricultural activity;
"local authority" means
(A) in relation to England and Wales, a county council, the Greater
London Council, a district council, a London borough council, the Common
Council of the City of London, the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple,
or the Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temple,
(B) in relation to Scotland, a regional, islands or district council
except that before 16th May 1975 it means a town council or county council;
"offshore installation" means any installation
which is intended for underwater exploitation of mineral resources or
exploration with a view to such exploitation;
"personal injury" includes any disease
and any impairment of a person's physical or mental condition;
"plant" includes any machinery, equipment
or appliance;
"premises" includes any place and, in
particular, includes
(A) any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or hovercraft,
(B) any installation on land (including the foreshore and other land
intermittently covered by water), any offshore installation, and any
other installation (whether floating, or resting on the seabed or the
subsoil thereof, or resting on other land covered with water or the
subsoil thereof), and
(C) any tent or movable structure;
"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations
made by the Secretary of State;
"prohibition notice" means a notice under
section 22;
"the relevant agricultural purposes" means
the following purposes, that is to say
(A) securing the health, safety and welfare at work of persons engaged
in agricultural operations,
(B) protecting persons other than persons so engaged against risks to
health or safety arising out of or in connection with the activities
at work of persons so engaged;
and the reference in paragraph (B) above to the risks there mentioned
shall be construed in accordance with section 1(3);
"the relevant statutory provisions" means
(A) the provisions of this Part and of any health and safety regulations
and agricultural health and safety regulations; and
(B) the existing statutory provisions;
"self-employed person" means an individual
who works for gain or reward otherwise than under a contract of employment,
whether or not he himself employs others;
"substance" means any natural or artificial
substance, whether in solid or liquid form or in the form of a gas or
vapour;
"substance for use at work" means any
substance intended for use (whether exclusively or not) by persons at
work;
"supply", where the reference is to supplying
articles or substances, means supplying them by way of sale, lease,
hire or hire-purchase, whether as principal or agent for another.
(2) In determining in any particular case whether
an operation is incidental to agriculture within the meaning of the definition
of "agricultural operation" in the preceding subsection, regard
shall be had to the magnitude of the operation and to the scale on which
it is performed as well as to all other relevant circumstances.
(3) Provision may be made by order for directing that
for the purposes of this Part any activity or operation specified in the
order which would or would not otherwise be agriculture within the meaning
of this Part shall be treated as not being or, as the case may be, being
agriculture for those purposes.
(4) An order under subsection (3) above may be either
an order applying to Great Britain and made by the Minister of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State acting jointly, or an order
applying to England and Wales only and made by the said Minister, or an
order applying to Scotland only and made by the Secretary of State.
(5) An order under subsection (3) above may be varied
or revoked by a subsequent order thereunder made by the authority who
made the original order.
(6) The power to make orders under subsection (3)
above shall be exercisable by statutory instrument subject to annulment
in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
Application of Part I to Isles
of Scilly
54. This Part, in its application to the Isles of
Scilly, shall apply as if those Isles were a local government area and
the Council of those Isles were a local authority.
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