The Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999 No. 1877) were laid before Parliament on 7 July 1999, coming into force on 1 December 1999. The Regulations implement measures from the Council Directive on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work (89/391/EEC), requiring every employer to ensure that the requirements of the Regulations are complied with in respect of every work place under his control. The Regulations amend the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997, the main changes being to introduce a liability where some person other than the employer has control of a workplace to any extent and is therefore also under a duty to ensure that the requirements of the Regulations are complied with. Ships in the course of construction or repair and buildings at the surface of mines are brought within the scope of the Regulations and a defence of due diligence is introduced for any breach of the Regulations.
(SO, July 1999)
