Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37)

(1) The provisions of this Part shall have effect with a view to— (a) securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work; (b) protecting persons other than persons at work against risks to health or safety arising out of or in connection with the activities of persons at work; (c) controlling the keeping and use of explosive or highly flammable or otherwise dangerous substances, and generally preventing the unlawful acquisition, possession and use of such substances; [ F1 [ F2 and ] ] [ F1 [ F2 (d) controlling the emission into the atmosphere of noxious or offensive substances from premises of any class prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph. ] ] (2) The provisions of this Part relating to the making of health and safety regulations F3 . . . and the preparation and approval of codes of practice shall in particular have effect with a view to enabling the enactments specified in the third column of Schedule 1 and the regulations, orders and other instruments in force under those enactments to be progressively replaced by a system of regulations and approved codes of practice operating in combination with the other provisions of this Part and designed to maintain or improve the standards of health, safety and welfare established by or under those enactments. (3) For the purposes of this Part risks arising out of or in connection with the activities of persons at work shall be treated as including risks attributable to the manner of conducting an undertaking, the plant or substances used for the purposes of an undertaking and the condition of premises so used or any part of them. (4) References in this Part to the general purposes of this Part are references to the purposes mentioned in subsection (1) above. Textual Amendments F1 S. 1(1)(d) and preceding word repealed (16.12.1996 for E.W and otherwise prosp.) by 1990 c. 43 , s. 162(2) , 164(3) , Sch. 16 Pt. I ; S.I. 1996/3056 , art. 2 F2 S. 1(1)(d) and preceding word repealed (S.) (26.2.2015) by The Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (Consequential Modifications) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/374) , arts. 1(1) , 2(2) F3 Words repealed by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71) , Sch. 18 Modifications etc. (not altering text) C33 Ss. 1–25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 33, 34–59, 80, 81 and 82 applied by S.I. 1989/840 , arts. 2–10 C34 Ss. 1-59, 80-82 applied (11.7.2001) by S.I. 2001/2127 , arts. 4(1) , 5(1)(2) , 6(1) , 7(1) , 8(1) , 10 (with art. 11 ) (as amended by S.I. 2009/1750 , art. 2(2)(4) ) C35 Ss. 1-59, 80-82 applied (temp.) (5.8.2009) by The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/2127) , arts. 8A , 8B (as inserted by S.I. 2009/1750 , art. 2(3) ) C36 Ss. 1-59 applied by S.I. 2001/2127 art. 8A 8B (as inserted (E.W.S.) (6.4.2011) by The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) (Variation) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/745) , arts. 1(1) , 3(2) ) C37 S. 1(1)(c) extended (E.W.S.) (8.8.1996) by S.I. 1996/2075 , reg. 2(1) (which amending provision was revoked (11.3.2002) by S.I. 2002/282 , art. 4 ) S. 1(1)(c) modified (E.W.S.) (11.3.2002) by S.I. 2002/282 , art. 3 C38 S. 1(2) modified by Gas Act 1986 (c. 44, SIF 44:2) , s. 67(3) , Sch. 8 Pt. I para. 6(3) C39 S. 1(3) applied by Companies Act 1985 (c. 6, SIF 27) , s. 235(5) , Sch. 7 Pt. IV para. 10(4) C40 S. 1(3) applied (1.4.2014) by Energy Act 2013 (c. 32) , ss. 69(3) , 156(1) (with ss. 107 , 111 ); S.I. 2014/251 , art. 4

(1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of an employer’s duty under the preceding subsection, the matters to which that duty extends include in particular— (a) the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health; (b) arrangements for ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances; (c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees; (d) so far as is reasonably practicable as regards any place of work under the employer’s control, the maintenance of it in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks; (e) the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work. (3) Except in such cases as may be prescribed, it shall be the duty of every employer to prepare and as often as may be appropriate revise a written statement of his general policy with respect to the health and safety at work of his employees and the organisation and arrangements for the time being in force for carrying out that policy, and to bring the statement and any revision of it to the notice of all of his employees. (4) Regulations made by the Secretary of State may provide for the appointment in prescribed cases by recognised trade unions (within the meaning of the regulations) of safety representatives from amongst the employees, and those representatives shall represent the employees in consultations with the employers under subsection (6) below and shall have such other functions as may be prescribed. F4 (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (6) It shall be the duty of every employer to consult any such representatives with a view to the making and maintenance of arrangements which will enable him and his employees to co-operate effectively in promoting and developing measures to ensure the health and safety at work of the employees, and in checking the effectiveness of such measures. (7) In such cases as may be prescribed it shall be the duty of every employer, if requested to do so by the safety representatives mentioned in [ F5 subsection (4) ] above, to establish, in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State, a safety committee having the function of keeping under review the measures taken to ensure the health and safety at work of his employees and such other functions as may be prescribed. Textual Amendments F4 Ss. 2(5), 29, 31, 32, 50(4)(5), 53(2)–(6) repealed by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71) , Sch. 18 F5 Words substituted by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71) , Sch. 15 para. 2 Modifications etc. (not altering text) C36 Ss. 1-59 applied by S.I. 2001/2127 art. 8A 8B (as inserted (E.W.S.) (6.4.2011) by The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) (Variation) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/745) , arts. 1(1) , 3(2) ) C41 Ss. 1–25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 33, 34–59, 80, 81 and 82 applied by S.I. 1989/840 , arts. 2–10 C42 Ss. 1-59, 80-82 applied (11.7.2001) by S.I. 2001/2127 , arts. 4(1) , 5(1)(2) , 6(1) , 7(1) , 8(1) , 10 (with art. 11 ) (as amended by S.I. 2009/1750 , art. 2(2)(4) ) C43 Ss. 1-59, 80-82 applied (temp.) (5.8.2009) by The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/2127) , arts. 8A , 8B (as inserted by S.I. 2009/1750 , art. 2(3) ) C44 S. 2(1)(2)(3) modified (15.11.2000) by S.I. 2000/2831 , reg. 5(1) C45 S. 2(1) modified (E.W.S.) (1.10.2014) by The Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1663) , regs. 1 , 4(2) (with reg. 3(1) (2) ) C46 S. 2(2) modified (E.W.S.) (1.10.2014) by The Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1663) , regs. 1 , 4(2) (with reg. 3(1) (2) ) C47 S. 2(3) modified (1.10.1993) by S.I. 1993/1897 , art. 4(4) . C48 S. 2(3) modified (E.W.S.) (1.10.2014) by The Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1663) , regs. 1 , 4(2) (with reg. 3(1) (2) ) C49 S. 2(4) modified by S.I. 1977/500 , reg. 8(1)