Health and safety laws

Which health and safety laws apply?

The main health and safety laws are:

• The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
• The Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978

Breaching your duties under this health and safety legislation is a criminal offence. It can result in a criminal prosecution of the business and those responsible for managing it.

Do health and safety laws apply to me?

Health and safety laws apply to all employers. Under health and safety legislation, as an employer, you have a duty not only to protect the health and safety of your employees, but also to safeguard anyone else whose health and safety may be put at risk by your activities.

They also apply to self-employed people carrying out certain prescribed types of work, such as those involving agriculture, forestry, asbestos, construction, gas, genetically modified organisms, and railways. These self-employed individuals must conduct their work in a way that, so far as is reasonably practicable, doesn't expose themselves or others who may be affected to risks to health and safety.

Who enforces health and safety law?

Health and safety law is primarily enforced by inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE, and HSENI in Northern Ireland) or environmental health officers employed by your local authority.

Generally, HSE and HSENI cover higher-risk sectors such as construction, manufacturing, agriculture, and the chemical industries, while local authorities are responsible for lower-risk workplaces such as offices, shops, and retail premises.

If you're unsure which body applies to your business, HSE provides a simple guide to help determine the correct enforcing authority.

Enforcing authorities have the power to issue improvement notices, prohibition notices, and to bring criminal prosecutions where necessary.

If the HSE finds that a business in England, Wales or Scotland has breached health and safety law, they will have to pay a fee. This is called a Fee for Intervention.

The fee is calculated based on the amount of time the HSE inspector spent identifying the breach, helping to put it right, and taking any necessary enforcement action. See Fee for Intervention for more information.