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Until
the application of the FOIA 2000 - which came fully
into force on 1 January 2005, the HSE's policy on
disclosure of information was set out in a number
of documents:
In
effect, this required the HSE to ask themselves the
following questions.
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was
it lawful to release the information? If the
answer was 'no', the information could not
have be released, and that is the end of the
story.
In
terms of determining whether it was lawful or
not to provide information, the most relevant
provision was section 28 of the HASAW Act 1974
which strictly restricted information provision.
This is discussed below.
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if
there was nothing in law prohibiting release,
the HSE should then haved asked whether or not
the information requested fell into one of the
15 categories of information contained in Part
2 of the Open Government Code that are exempt
from release.
If
the information did not fit into one of these
categories, then it should have been released
even if release would have caused significant
harm.
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if
the information did fall into one of the 15 exemption
categories, the HSE should then ask whether disclosure
will cause "significant harm".
If disclosure would not cause significant harm,
the information should be disclosed |
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If
in the HSE’s view, disclosure would cause
significant harm, the HSE can still disclose if
it would have been in the 'public interest' to
do so. |
In
other words, if the HSE was not legally prohibited
from disclosing the information, the HSE should have
disclosed it unless:
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the
information was in one of the exempted categories
in the Open Government Code, and |
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disclosure
would cause significant harm; and
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disclosure
would not be in the public interest. |
You can read more about the policy by clicking below.
Key
Documents and abbreviations
There are a number of key documents. These are summarised
in the main text linked to these pages. However, you
can download them if you would like to see these documents
in full.
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The
most important document is HSE’s General
Administrative Procedure (GAP) 1 - "Open
government – Disclosure of information to
the Public" - which contains instructions
and procedures for HSE staff on how they should
deal with requests for information.
In the text below, it is referred to as "GAP
1"
To download, Click
Here (word doc) |
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"Code
of Practice on Access to Government Information":
This sets out the Government’s policy on
what information government departments should
release. It is published by the Lord Chancellor’s
Department;
In the text below, it is referred to as ‘Open
Government Code’
| To
download, Part 1, Click
Here (word) |
(which
deals with information that should be disclosed) |
| To
download, Part 2, Click
Here (word) |
(which
deals with exemptions) |
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Health
and Safety Commission’s Policy Statement
on Open Government
This sets out the Commission’s statement
on openness
In the text below it is referred to as 'HSC’s
Openness Statement'
To download, Click
Here (PDF) |
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Health
and Safety Executive Board Statement on Openness;
This sets out the Executive’s policy on openness
In the text below it is referred to as ‘HSE
Openness Statement’
To see this, Click Here
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