Health and Safety Executive - wikipedia Health and Safety Executive Organisation responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare in Great Britain Health and Safety Executive Agency overview Formed 1 January 1975 ( 1 January 1975 ) Type Crown status non-departmental public body Headquarters Liverpool, England Agency executives Martin Temple, Chair Richard Judge, Chief Executive Parent department Department for Work and Pensions Key document Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, ss. 10 - 11 Website www.hse.gov.uk The Health and Safety Executive ( HSE ) is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain. It is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom with its headquarters in Liverpool, England. In Northern Ireland, these duties lie with the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland. The HSE was created by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and has since absorbed earlier regulatory bodies such as the Factory Inspectorate and the Railway Inspectorate though the Railway Inspectorate was transferred to the Office of Rail Regulation in April 2006. The HSE is sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. As part of its work, HSE investigates industrial accidents, small and large, including major incidents such as the explosion and fire at Buncefield in 2005. Though it formerly reported to the Health and Safety Commission, on 1 April 2008, the two bodies merged. Contents 1 Functions 2 Structure and responsibilities 2.1 Health and Safety Executive, Science Division 2.2 HM Inspectorate of Mines 2.3 Offshore Safety Division 2.4 OSHCR ( Occupational Safety & Health Consultants Register ) 3 Personnel 3.1 Directors General of the Health and Safety Executive 3.2 Deputy Directors General of the Health and Safety Executive 3.3 Chair and Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Executive 3.4 Heads of OSD 4 Criticism 5 Areas of regulation 6 References 7 External links Functions The Executive 's duties are to : Assist and encourage persons concerned with matters relevant to the operation of the objectives of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Make arrangements for and encourage research and publication, training and information in connection with its work. Make arrangements for securing government departments, employers, employees, their respective representative organisations, and other persons are provided with an information and advisory service and are kept informed of, and adequately advised on such matters. Propose regulations. The Executive is further obliged to keep the Secretary of State informed of its plans and ensure alignment with the policies of the Secretary of State, giving effect to any directions given to it. The Secretary of State can give directions to the Executive. On 1 April 2006, the Executive ceased to have responsibility for railway safety. The Executive is responsible for the Employment Medical Advisory Service, which operates as part of its Field Operations Directorate. Structure and responsibilities Local authorities are responsible for the enforcement of health and safety legislation in shops, offices, and other parts of the service sector. Agencies belonging to the HSE include Health and Safety Executive, Science Division Based in Buxton, Derbyshire, the Health and Safety Executive Science Division ( HSL - Health & Safety Laboratory ) employs over 350 people including scientists, engineers, psychologists, social scientists, health professionals and technical specialists. It was established in 1921 under the Safety in Mines Research Board to carry out large - scale tests related to mining hazards. Following the formation of the HSE, in 1975 the facilities became a Safety Engineering Laboratory and an Explosion and Flame Research Laboratory, operating as part of the Research Laboratories Service Division of the HSE. In 1995 the HSL was formed, including the Buxton site and laboratories in Sheffield. In 2004 the Sheffield activities moved to Buxton, and the University of Sheffield took over the Sheffield laboratory site. It now operates as an agency carrying out scientific research and investigations ( e.g. on the Buncefield fire ) for the HSE, other government agencies and the private sector. Hm Inspectorate of Mines HM Inspectorate of Mines is responsible for the correct implementation and inspection of safe working procedures within all UK mine workings. It is based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Offshore Safety Division The Offshore Safety Division ( OSD ) was established as a division within HSE in April 1991. This was in response to recommendations of the Cullen Inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster on 6 July 1988. At the time of the disaster, the Department of Energy ( DEn ) was responsible for both production and offshore safety ; this was perceived as entailing a conflict of interests. Dr Tony Barrell, Director of HSE 's Technology and Air Pollution Division was appointed Chief Executive of OSD, having previously been seconded to the DEn to lead the transfer of responsibilities. At the same time, Ministerial oversight was transferred from the DEn to the Department of Employment. The Offshore Safety Act 1992 made the Mineral Workings ( Offshore Installations ) Act 1971 and its subsidiary Regulations relevant statutory provisions of the Health and Safety at work etc, Act 1974. The OSD 's initial responsibilities included the establishment of the Safety Case Regulations ; a thorough review of existing safety legislation and the move towards a goal setting regulatory regime. OSD became part of the HSE 's new Hazardous Installations Directorate in 1999 ; it became part of the new Energy Division in 2013. OSHCR ( occupational Safety & Health consultants register ) The HSE currently administrates the Occupational Safety & Health Consultants Register ( OSHCR ), a central register of registered safety consultants within the United Kingdom. The intention of the HSE is to pass responsibility of operating the register to the relevant trade & professional bodies once the register is up and running. Personnel Directors General of the Health and Safety Executive List of Directors General : January 1975 - December 1983 : John Howard Locke CB ( b. 26 December 1923, d. 26 September 1998 ) January 1984 - 30 June 1995 : John David Rimington CB ( b. 27 June 1935 ) 3 July 1995 - 30 Sept 2000 : Jennifer ( Jenny ) Helen Bacon CB ( b. 16 April 1945 ) 1 October 2000 - November 2005 : Timothy Edward Hanson Walker CB ( b. 27 July 1945 ) November 2005 - 31 March 2008 : Geoffrey John Freeman Podger CB ( b. 3 August 1952 ) The HSE and the Health and Safety Commission merged on 1 April 2008. Deputy Directors General of the Health and Safety Executive ( Lois ) Audrey Pittom CB ( b. 1918, d. 1990 ) 1975 - 78 Bryan Hugh Harvey ( b. 1914, d. 2004 ) 1975 - 76 James Carver ( b. 1916, d. 2007 ) 1976 - 77 Eric Williams ( b. 1915, d. 1980 ) 1975 - 76 ( Herbert ) John Dunster CB ( b. 1922, d. 2006 ) 1976 - 82 Dr Kenneth Playfair Duncan ( b. 1924, d. 1999 ) 1982 - 84 David Charles Thomas Eves CB ( b. 1942 ) 1989 - 2002 Jenny Helen Bacon CB ( b. 1945 ) 1992 - 95 Richard Hillier CB 1996 - 2001 Kate Timms 2001 - 04 ( James ) Justin McCracken ( b. 1955 ) 2002 - 08 Jonathan Rees 2004 - 08 The HSE and the Health and Safety Commission merged on 1 April 2008. Chair and Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Executive Chairs : Dame Judith Elizabeth Hackitt CBE ( b. 1 December 1954 ) 1 April 2008 - 31 March 2016 George Brechin interim chair April 2016 Martin Temple CBE 1 May 2016 - date Chief Executives : Geoffrey John Freeman Podger CB ( b. 3 August 1952 ) 1 April 2008 - 31 August 2013 ( Denis ) Kevin Myers CBE ( b. 30 September 1954 ) Acting Chief Executive 1 September 2013 - 9 November 2014 Richard Judge ( b. 2 November 1962 ) 10 November 2014 - date Heads of OSD Dr Anthony ( Tony ) Charles Barrell ( b. 1933 ) CB, FEng, BSc, D Eng, FIChemE, Eur Ing ( Chief Executive ), April 1991 - June 1994 Roderick Stuart Allison ( b. 1936 ), CB, ( Chief Executive ) July 1994 - 1996 Dr Allan Douglas Sefton ( b. 1945 ), 1996 - June 2000 T.A.F. Powell, June 2000 - December 2005 Ian Whewell, January 2006 - October 2009 Steve Walker, October 2009 - March 2013 Criticism Some of the criticism of HSE has been that its procedures are inadequate to protect safety. For example, the public enquiry by Lord Gill into the Stockline Plastics factory explosion criticised the HSE for `` inadequate appreciation of the risks associated with buried LPG pipework... and a failure properly to carry out check visits ''. However, most criticism of the HSE is that their regulations are over-broad, suffocating, and part of a nanny state. The Daily Telegraph has claimed that the HSE is part of a `` compensation culture, '' that it is undemocratic and unaccountable, and that its rules are costing jobs. However, the HSE denies this, saying that much of the criticism is misplaced because it relates to matters outside the HSE 's remit. The HSE also responded to criticism by publishing a `` Myth of the Month '' section on its website between 2007 and 2010, which it described as `` exposing the various myths about ' health and safety ' ''. This has become a political issue in the UK. The Lord Young report, published in October 2010, recommended various reforms aiming `` to free businesses from unnecessary bureaucratic burdens and the fear of having to pay out unjustified damages claims and legal fees. '' Areas of regulation The HSE focuses regulation of health and safety in the following sectors of industry : Agriculture Air transport Armed forces Catering and hospitality Construction industries Crown establishments Chemical manufacture and storage industries Professional diving Dockwork Education sector e.g. schools Engineering sector Entertainment and leisure industry Fire service Food and drink manufacturing Footwear and leather industries Haulage Health services e.g. hospitals Gas supply and installation ; Gas Safe Register Laundries and dry - cleaning Mining Motor vehicle repair Nuclear installations ; Nuclear Installations Inspectorate ( aka NII ) Office work Offshore oil and gas installations Paper and board manufacturing industry Pesticides Police forces Printing industries Public services The quarrying industry Recycling and waste management industries Textiles industries References Jump up ^ `` HSE offices ''. Health & Safety Executive. Retrieved 2012 - 04 - 07. Jump up ^ Department for Work and Pensions ( 1 April 2008 ). `` Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive merge to form a single regulatory body ''. Retrieved 2008 - 04 - 06. Jump up ^ Legislative Reform ( Health and Safety Executive ) Order 2008, SI 2008 / 960 Jump up ^ Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, s. 11 ( 2 ) Jump up ^ Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, s. 11 ( 3 ) Jump up ^ Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, s. 12 Jump up ^ Railways Act 2005, ss. 2, 60 / Sch. 3 para. 3 ( 1 ) ( b ) ( 2 ) ; Railways Act 2005 ( Commencement No. 5 ) Order 2006, SI 2006 / 266, art. 2 ( 2 ), Sch. ^ Jump up to : `` HSL Annual Report and Accounts 2010 / 2011 '' ( PDF ). nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2018. Jump up ^ www.hsl.gov.uk Archived 13 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. A Century of Science Jump up ^ `` Health and safety in mining ''. www.hse.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2018. Jump up ^ `` About OSHCR on the HSE website ''. Hse.gov.uk. Retrieved 2014 - 08 - 13. Jump up ^ `` Who 's Who ''. www.ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 2016 - 03 - 04. Jump up ^ `` HSE response to Stockline ' too little, too late ' ''. Daily Herald. 30 August 2009. Retrieved 2010 - 12 - 19. Jump up ^ `` David Cameron declares war on the `` nonsense '' of the `` over-the - top health and safety culture '' The Tory Diary ``. Conservativehome.blogs.com. 2009 - 12 - 01. Retrieved 2014 - 08 - 13. Jump up ^ Political, Deputy ( 27 August 2010 ). `` Health and safety laws are costing jobs ''. The Daily Telegraph. London. Jump up ^ Dudman, Jane ( 30 June 2010 ). `` Dispelling the myths around health and safety ''. The Guardian. London. Jump up ^ `` Busting the health and safety myths ''. Hse.gov.uk. 2014 - 06 - 30. Retrieved 2014 - 08 - 13. Jump up ^ `` HSE and local authorities hit back at ' health and Safety ' myths ''. HSE. 3 July 2007. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2010 - 12 - 19. Jump up ^ `` Common Sense Common Safety : A report by Lord Young of Graffham to the Prime Minister '' ( PDF ). HM Government. p. 9. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 20 September 2012. External links HSE website HSE news service website HSL website Gill Report into the Stockline explosion Young Report `` Common Sense, Common Safety '' HSE Podcast to mark centenary of HSL Catalogue of HSE publications Non-police law enforcement agencies of the United Kingdom National Border Force National Crime Agency HM Revenue and Customs Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre UK Visas and Immigration England and Wales Environment Agency Health and Safety Executive Her Majesty 's Prison Service Marine Management Organisation Serious Fraud Office ( SFO ) Vehicle and Operator Services Agency Scotland Health and Safety Executive Marine Scotland Scottish Environment Protection Agency Scottish Prison Service Vehicle and Operator Services Agency Northern Ireland Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Prison Service Organised Crime Task Force Serious Fraud Office ( SFO ) Construction industry of the United Kingdom Construction Economy of the United Kingdom companies consultancies and support services Amec Foster Wheeler Amey Arcadis Architecture firms Arup Atkins Faithful + Gould Buro Happold Capita CH2M Hill Cundall Davis Langdon Elliott Wood Expedition Engineering Flint & Neill Gifford Hoare Lea Interserve Mace Mitie Mott MacDonald Mouchel RPS Scott Wilson Sweett Group WSP house builders current Barratt Bellway Berkeley Bloor Boot Bovis Countryside Properties Crest Nicholson Keepmoat Lend Lease McCarthy & Stone Miller Muir Persimmon Redrow Taylor Wimpey Telford Homes United House defunct Ashtons Beazer Broseley Bryant Homes Comben Homes George Wimpey Ideal Homes Jelsons McLean Homes Taylor Woodrow Westbury William Leech Wilson Bowden integrated construction current Balfour Beatty BAM Nuttall Carillion Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Clugston Costain Galliford Try Gleeson Interserve Kier Laing O'Rourke Lend Lease Mace Morgan Sindall J. Murphy & Sons Shepherd Sir Robert McAlpine VolkerFitzpatrick Wates Willmott Dixon defunct Alfred McAlpine Connaught plc Holland, Hannen & Cubitts Linford Mowlem Rok Sir William Arrol & Co. Trollope & Colls suppliers current Aggregate Industries Artex Ashtead Brogan Buildbase Celotex Cemex UK Hanson Hope Cement HSS Hire Jewson Kingspan Kingspan Off - Site London Brick Mero - Schmidlin Pilkington RMD Kwikform Saint Gobain SIG Speedy Hire Tarmac Tarmac Building Products Tata Steel Europe Travis Perkins Wolseley defunct Blue Circle Industries Redland RMC Group Tarmac Group government and regulatory bodies Department for Communities and Local Government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Health & Safety Executive Local planning authority Planning Inspectorate Chief Construction Adviser to UK Government industry bodies British Constructional Steelwork Association BSRIA Build UK Building Research Establishment Chartered Institute of Building Civil Engineering Contractors Association Construction Clients ' Group Construction Industry Council CIRIA CITB Constructing Excellence Electrical Safety Council Federation of Master Builders Home Builders Federation Institution of Civil Engineers Institution of Structural Engineers National Access and Scaffolding Confederation National Federation of Builders National Federation of Demolition Contractors National House Building Council Refined Bitumen Association Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Scottish Building Federation SELECT ( Electrical Contractors ' Association of Scotland ) Society of Construction Arbitrators Specialist Engineering Contractors Group Strategic Forum for Construction sustainability Association for Environment Conscious Building BREEAM Code for Sustainable Homes EcoHomes Energy efficiency in British housing Good Homes Alliance UK Green Building Council other British Construction Industry Awards Building Building regulations in the United Kingdom Building regulations approval Construction News Development control in the United Kingdom New Civil Engineer Planning permission Town and country planning in the United Kingdom Category Occupational safety and health Occupational diseases and injuries Acrodynia Asbestosis Asthma Berylliosis Brucellosis Byssinosis ( `` brown lung '' ) Chalicosis Chimney sweeps ' carcinoma Chronic solvent - induced encephalopathy ( CSE ) Coalworker 's pneumoconiosis ( `` black lung '' ) Concussions in sport Decompression sickness De Quervain syndrome Exposure to human nail dust Farmer 's lung Fiddler 's neck Flock worker 's lung Glassblower 's cataract Golfer 's elbow Hearing Loss Hospital - acquired infection Indium lung Laboratory animal allergy Lead poisoning Mad hatter disease Mesothelioma Metal fume fever Mule spinners ' cancer Noise - induced hearing loss Phossy jaw Pneumoconiosis Radium jaw Repetitive strain injury Silicosis Silo - filler 's disease Sports injury Surfer 's ear Tennis elbow Tinnitus Writer 's cramp Occupational hygiene Occupational hazard Hierarchy of hazard controls Prevention through design Exposure assessment Occupational exposure limit Occupational epidemiology Professions Environmental health Industrial engineering Occupational health nursing Occupational health psychology Occupational medicine Occupational therapist Safety engineering Agencies and organizations European Agency for Safety and Health at Work UK Health and Safety Executive International Labour Organization U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration World Health Organization Standards Bangladesh Accord ISO 45001 Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 Worker Protection Standard ( US ) Working Environment Convention, 1977 See also Environment, health and safety Environmental toxicology Ergonomics Health physics Indoor air quality International Chemical Safety Card National Day of Mourning ( Canadian observance ) Process safety management Public health Risk management Safety data sheet ( SDS ) Toxic tort Workers ' compensation Category Occupational diseases Commons Journals Organizations Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Health_and_Safety_Executive&oldid=837045518 '' Categories : 1974 establishments in the United Kingdom Department for Work and Pensions Health and safety in the United Kingdom Industrial fires and explosions in the United Kingdom Law enforcement agencies of England and Wales Law enforcement agencies of Scotland Medical and health regulators Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Occupational safety and health organizations Organisations based in Liverpool Organizations established in 1974 Regulators of the United Kingdom Safety organizations Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from October 2017 Articles with permanently dead external links Webarchive template wayback links Articles with short description Use dmy dates from September 2012 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikisource Deutsch فارسی Français Русский Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 18 April 2018, at 11 : 36. 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Question: what is the role of the hse inspectorate
Answer: responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain; the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain; the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain