Health and Safety Executive announces two new Public Consultations

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced the commencement of two new consultations open for public comment. The first relates to proposals for a National Local Authority Enforcement Code, while the second relates to proposed amendments to EU chemicals legislation. Both have developed from recommendations that were a feature of Professor Löfstedt’s independent review of health and safety law, published in July 2011.

Public Consultation on a National Local Authority Enforcement Code

HSE Consultation ‘CD247’ sets out proposals for a National Local Authority Enforcement Code (‘the Code’). The Code sets out Government expectations on a risk-based approach to targeting health and safety enforcement interventions. The intention is that businesses are provided with a consistency in approach from local authority regulators (who share responsibility for health and safety enforcement and regulation with the HSE and cover certain specific industry sectors), and are clear in terms of the respective roles that exist in relation to the management of risk.

The Code has been developed further to recommendations made in the Löfstedt report and in line with the ‘Red Tape Challenge’ on health and safety regulation (for further details on the Red Tape Challenge, please refer to our earlier article). Through reference to the Code, it is hoped that local authority regulators will react to health and safety enforcement in a proportionate manner, while businesses will continue to recognise the importance of their own role in regulating their premises.

To ensure compliance, the HSE will monitor local authority data returns and will annually publish a report of their findings on local authority regulatory activity to ensure the framework is upheld in a transparent manner. Where a business owner believes the Code has been improperly implemented in relation to their own business, they may bring a complaint to the Independent Regulatory Challenge Panel.

Details on the provisions of the proposed Code can be found in the consultative document, which can be accessed here. The consultation is open for comment until 1 March 2013.

Public Consultation on Regulatory Measures to Support EU Chemicals Legislation

HSE Consultation ‘CD249’ relates to regulatory proposals in relation to three regulations that have recently been developed at EU level. The regulations concerned are:

• The Biocidal Products Regulation (EU No. 528/2012)
• The Export and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Regulation (referred to as the ‘Prior Informed Consent Regulation’ (PIC)) (EU No. 649/2012)
• The Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) of Substance and Mixtures Regulation (EC No. 1272/2008)

In order to accommodate the changes introduced by these three regulations, amendments are necessary at a national level. All three regulations require the UK to formally appoint a competent authority (or ‘Designated National Authority’) to undertake tasks specified within the regulations and to establish arrangements to ensure the proper enforcement of the three regulations.

As part of this, the HSE is consulting on the proposal to consolidate all existing biocides legislation and related regulations in to one new statutory instrument, which would address the necessary EU amendments. This would also implement Löfstedt’s earlier recommendation of consolidating this area generally and satisfy the UK’s obligations under the new EU schemes.

The proposal targets seven national laws and will reduce them into one statutory instrument (the ‘7 into 1’ package) which would come into force on 1 September 2013.

The consultation began on 20 December 2012 and runs until 31 January 2013. It can be accessed here.