| 1. |
Introduction
The Health and Safety Commission believes that
public access to health and safety information
improves public understanding of health and safety
and helps to strengthen public confidence in the
health and safety system. In 1986 it published
its first policy statement on making information
publicly available and supplemented it in 1991
with a statement on the publication of reports
on incidents. The Policy was revised in 1994 in
the light of the development of the Code of Practice
on Access to Government Information, the Citizen's
Charter and the Environmental Information Regulations
1992. |
| 2. |
Recent developments, in
particular the placing of information on the Internet,
placing Commission/advisory committee papers in
HSE's Information Centres and the revision of
charges enable the Commission to issue this revised
statement of its policy on making information
available to the public. |
| 3. |
A cornerstone of this policy
remains the duty under Section 11 of the Health
and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to keep employers,
employees and the public informed of matters relevant
to the purposes of ensuring that risks to people's
health and safety from work activities are properly
controlled. The Commission has in practice delegated
this task to the Health and Safety Executive.
In addition, the Commission and HSE will always
make any information in their possession available
when that information is necessary to counter
an immediate risk to health and safety. |
| Code of
Practice on Access to Government Information |
| 4. |
In line with its long-standing
commitment to openness, the Commission welcomes
the Code of Practice and fully supports its
implementation. The Code establishes the principle
that information should be made available to
the public, but recognises that, in the Commission's
case, a number of safeguards are necessary.
The availability of information should not:
- undermine the willingness
of employers, employees and others to provide
HSC/E with information;
- restrain the regulator's
ability to take the action most appropriate
in the particular circumstances; or
- place an excessive
call on HSE's resources at the expense of
other priorities.
|
| 5. |
HSC/E will make the following
types of information available, subject to the
exemptions in the Code:
- Facts and analyses
behind major policy decisions. Before making
major decisions the Commission will continue
to consult interested parties for their views.
Consultation is normally achieved by the publication
of a consultative or discussion document which
covers the facts and analyses upon which the
Commission has based its proposals. For all
consultative documents the Commission will
also make available at the end of the consultation
period the responses it has received (except
where a respondent has asked for all or part
of a response to remain confidential).
- Explanatory material
for HSE staff on dealing with the public.
This material has been reviewed and is now
available for free public viewing from HSE
Information Centres in London, Bootle and
Sheffield. Copies are also available on request.
- Reasons for administrative
decisions to those affected by the decisions.
The Code recognises that reasons need not
be given for decisions on whether to take
enforcement action.
- Information on the
standards of service, the costs of the services
provided, what targets are set and the results
achieved. This information is available in
the HSC Annual Report and in the HSE Plan
of Work.
- On request, information
relating to the policies, actions and decisions
of the Commission or HSE and related matters.
Where significant effort is needed to locate
the information within HSE and/or prepare
it for release, a charge will be made.
|
| 6. |
Under the commitment in
the Code the Commission and HSE will make available
information received before 4 April 1994, subject
to the exemptions in the code. Much of this information
was provided in the expectation that it would
not be made publicly available and for that reason
in many cases the exemptions in the Code (eg commercial
confidentiality, statutory restriction) are likely
to apply to some or all of the information requested.
|
| 7. |
The Commission will only
rarely release information covered by the Code's
exemptions from disclosure. These exemptions include
cases where the release of information would prejudice
the enforcement of the law or harm safety; cases
where it would harm the proper and efficient conduct
of the operations of the Commission or HSE; personal
information; commercial confidences; information
given in confidence; or cases where disclosure
would be in breach of a statutory restriction.
There may also be cases where, in the absence
of material covered by the exemptions, information
would be so incomplete as to be misleading. |
| 8. |
Environmental Information
Regulations
Under the provisions of the Environmental Information
Regulations 1992 public authorities which have
responsibilities for the environment and information
on it are required to release environmental information
on request, subject to the exempted categories
of information in the Regulations. |
| 9. |
HSC/E have such responsibilities
and therefore will make available any environmental
information they hold subject to the exemptions,
which are similar to those in the Code of Practice.
Environmental information will be made available
both in areas where HSC/E have statutory environmental
responsibilities and, if they hold any environmental
information, in areas where they do not have such
responsibilities. |
| 10. |
The areas where HSC/E
have statutory responsibilities for the environment,
and are therefore most likely to have environmental
information, are:
- industrial major accident
hazard sites
- pesticides
- genetically modified
organisms
- new substances
- onshore and cross
country pipelines
- polychlorinated biphenyls
and polychlorinated terphenyls
- export and import
of certain dangerous chemicals
|
| 11. |
Publication of reports
on incident
HSE investigates a great number of accidents,
dangerous occurrences and other incidents each
year. Where the accounts of such incidents have
some general or technical significance the Commission
believes that reports should be published to set
out the detail which influenced the course and
conclusions of HSE's enquiries into the facts. |
| 12. |
The Commission or HSE
will therefore continue to publish reports on
incidents of the following kinds:
- wherever the Commission
has directed HSE to investigate and make a
special report under Section 14(2) of the
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974;
- where an incident
gives rise to serious public or local alarm
leading to a need for explanation and public
satisfaction that the matter has been thoroughly
investigated and all avenues for further action
identified;
- where investigation
discloses technical or other features from
which important general lessons can be learned;
and
- where it is clearly
in the public interest on some other ground
that a report should be published
|
| 13. |
The existing practice whereby
reports on incidents at nuclear installations
and in connection with pesticides and certain
hazardous transport or railway incidents are published
on a regular basis will continue. |
| 14. |
Publication of a report
may on occasion have to be delayed where matters
relating to an incident are sub judice, or otherwise
in connection with legal proceedings. The Commission
or HSE will aim to announce their intention to
publish as early as possible in each case. |
| 15. |
In publishing reports on
incidents the Commission and HSE will pay proper
regard to considerations of personal privacy,
commercial confidentiality, intellectual property
rights and national and public security. In their
experience it is always possible to give a sufficient
and satisfactory account of any incident without
contravening these restraints. |
| 16. |
Public registers of
health and safety information
HSE will maintain at its offices public registers
of health and safety information, which may
be inspected free of charge. The following registers
are maintained:
(a) Names and addresses
of firms subject to the following legislation;
- Explosives Act 1875
- Nuclear Installations
Act 1965
- Fire Certificates
(Special Premises) Regulations 1976
- Notification of Installations
Handling Hazardous Substances Regulations
1982
- Asbestos (Licensing)
Regulations 1983
- Control of Industrial
Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1984
- Ionising Radiations
Regulations 1985
- Dangerous Substances
in Harbour Areas Regulations 1987
- Dangerous Substances
(Notification and Marking of Sites) Regulations
1990
(b) Information from notifications
requiring consent under the Genetically Modified
Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 1992
(c) In Scotland only, prohibition notices, applications
for consent and convictions under the Genetically
Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) Regulations
1992. [The registers for England and Wales are
kept at offices of the Environment Agency]
(d) Names and addresses of firms to which licences,
certificates and orders have been granted by
HSE
(e) Names and addresses of firms and individuals
convicted of breaches of health and safety legislation
(f) Names and addresses of firms on whom HSE
has issued improvement or prohibition notices
where those notices have environmental or public
safety implications as required by the Environment
and Safety Information Act 1988), and the substance
of the notices.
|
| 17. |
Quarterly inspection
reports of nuclear sites
HSE's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate will
continue to make publicly available on request
its quarterly inspection reports on nuclear power
stations and other nuclear installations. |
