The Role of the Health and Safety Commission, Executive and Environment Agency
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) is responsible for health and safety regulation in Great Britain. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) (and local authorities) are the enforcing authorities who work in support of the HSC. Both are statutory bodies, established under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (the HSW Act).
HSC’s statutory functions include conducting and sponsoring research; promoting training; providing an information and advisory service; and submitting proposals to Ministers for new or revised regulations and approved codes of practice. HSC has a chair plus nine members nominated by organisations representing employers, employees, local authorities and others. They are appointed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
HSE is a body of three people appointed by HSC with the Secretary of State’s approval. HSE advises and assists HSC and has specific statutory responsibilities of its own, notably for enforcing health and safety law. HSE’s staff of around 4000 (inspectors, policy advisors, technologists, scientific and medical experts etc) is collectively known as HSE.
HSE regulates health and safety in factories, farms, mines, nuclear installations, offshore installations, hospitals, schools and many other sectors. Local authorities are responsible for enforcement in offices, shops and other services. The Environment Agency (EA) is the lead regulator in England and Wales with responsibility for protecting and enhancing the environment. It was set up by the Environment Act 1995 and is a non-departmental public body, largely sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the National Assembly for Wales (NAW). EA’s prime responsibilities include flood risk management, tackling pollution incidents, reducing industry’s impact on the environment, restoring and improving rivers, coastal waters, contaminated land, and wildlife habitats.
EA also advises on sustainable drainage, water conservation and management, planning issues, nature conservation and waste management. The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH) are enforced by a joint Competent Authority (CA) comprising HSE and EA in England and Wales, and HSE and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland.
