Health and Safety Enforcement Policy

The purpose of this policy is to describe practices in dealing with the disclosure of information under legislation and good practice note `Open Government: a Good Practice Note on Access to Local Authority Information’. The policy is intended to ensure consistency with the policy and practices of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The good practice note requires local authorities to draw up and follow their own policy statements. This policy document seeks to fulfil that aim. It does not seek to replace any statutory requirements on disclosure where the law requires the local authority either to withhold or to disclose. Local authorities and the HSE must follow the same legislation on disclosure of health and safety information namely:

i) Section 28 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974;

ii) Environmental Information Regulations 2004;

iii) Environment and Safety Information Act 1988;

iv) Freedom of Information Act 2000.

This policy is fully retrospective, i.e. it applies to information acquired by Buckinghamshire Council before the legislation came into effect.

On 1st January 2005 the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI Act) created two important rights of access for any person making a request for information to a public authority:

• To be informed by the public authority whether it holds the information of the description specified in the request; and
• If that is the case, to have the information communicated to them.

The Council has published a Freedom of Information Act Publication Scheme that will be followed should requests for information be made.

Section 28 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act has been amended to bring restrictions on giving information into line with FOI Act.

Subject to the exemptions in the FOI Act (or EIR exemptions), the local authority can release information:

• proactively - because it is in the public interest for us to put that information into the public domain, or
• in response to a request under the FOI Act or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004

We are not required to disclose information when the public interest for making the information available is outweighed by a greater public interest in protecting it. However, applying the public interest requires us to exercise our skill and judgement and document our reasoning and decision making.

Buckinghamshire Council recognises that these Regulations impose responsibilities in respect of the environment, environmental information held and the release of such information, subject to exempted classes of information.

Buckinghamshire Council further recognise that the Regulations disapply all other statutory provisions on disclosure where those other provisions conflict with the Regulations. Section 28 in accordance with this will not normally apply to requests made for environmental information as defined in the Regulations.

For the purposes of the policy, environmental information is regarded as information relating to:

i) the state of any water, air, flora, fauna, soil, natural site or other land;

ii) any activities or measures (including activities that give rise to noise or other nuisance) which adversely affect or are likely to adversely affect anything in i);

iii) any activities or other measure (including environmental management programmes) which are designed to protect anything in i).

This policy will not require the release of information about human health and safety except where human health and safety have been, or could be, affected through environmental media (e.g. air, water or soil). For example, information that workers were directly harmed in the manufacture of a substance is not releasable under the Regulations as environmental media are not involved. However, if fish were harmed, or could have been harmed, because a substance got into the food chain, such information would have to be released on request as environmental media are involved.

Local Authorities are within scope of the Regulations as we have environmental responsibilities and hold environmental information. We may obtain environmental information in carrying out any of our functions or in any area of our responsibilities and such information is subject to the requirements of the Regulations. For example, information could be obtained on noise, Legionnaires’ disease, ionising or non-ionising radiations and may be disclosable to the extent that it relates to the environment.

In order to comply with the provisions of the Act Buckinghamshire Council will maintain public registers of information on improvement or prohibition notices having public safety or environmental implications.

The register entries will include brief details of the breach of legislation and action required and will consist of the first page of the notices.

No charge will be raised for the inspection of the register.

Information on only some notices is on the public registers kept under the Environment and Safety Information Act 1988. Under this policy Buckinghamshire Council will also provide enquirers with information on any other health and safety notice it has served. The information provided will include the name and address of the premises, the date of the notice, the statutory breach and the date by which the breach must be remedied.

Requests for inspection reports will be considered in accordance with the Council’s FOI Publication Scheme and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Buckinghamshire Council may hold on public registers the names and addresses of firms/individuals convicted of breaches of health and safety legislation.