Health and Safety Executive Board Paper No: HSE/14/61Meeting Date: 13 August 2014 FOI Status: Open Type of paper: Above the line Exemptions: None

Trim reference: 2014/294215

Chief Executive’s Report to the Board

Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee 1. As part of the package of legislative reform recommended by Professor Löfstedt, HSE has submitted to Parliament for approval regulatory packages on Explosives, Acetylene, Petroleum and Genetically Modified Organisms. Part of this process involves scrutiny by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee which examines the merits of any statutory instruments laid before the House of Lords. In their Sixth Report to Parliament published on 15 July, the Committee has praised HSE for the quality of this legislation, it said:

“All four of these Regulations are consolidations and simplifications of existing legislation in some cases repealing legislation that is over a century old. They are the result of extensive consultation with industry and others to find where clarifications and improvements are needed while maintaining appropriate safety standards. The Committee commends the Health and Safety Executive for its efforts and regards these instruments as examples of best practice.”

2. The committee has previously commended the Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Repeals, Revocations and Amendments) Regulations which were also introduced as part of the process of reform recommended by Professor Löfstedt. These regulations came into force in April 2013 and the Committee commend the approach taken by HSE and also the clear and proportionate justification for each associated group of regulations given in the Explanatory Memorandum.

Launch of Scotland Farm Safety Partnership

3. On 7 August a newly formed farm safety partnership is to be launched at the Black Isle Show in Ross-Shire. The launch will be announced by Scotland's Minister with responsibility for Agriculture, Richard Lochhead. The Partnership comprises NFU for Scotland, NFU Mutual, Scottish Government, and HSE, all of whom will be represented at the launch. Farm safety partnerships are the agricultural industry's response to the challenge, made by the HSE Chair, for the industry to take ownership of health and safety, and show leadership in tackling the poor record of managing risks. The agricultural industry in GB accounts for around 1.5% of the country's workforce, but annually accounts for 15 - 20% of the work related fatalities. However the fatality rate in the agricultural sector in Scotland each year is consistently higher than the corresponding rate in England or Wales. In 2013/14 the rate per 100,000 workers in agriculture was 13.57 (6 deaths) in Scotland, compared to 8.64 (20 deaths) in England and 3.39 (1 death) in Wales,

although these rates may vary year on year, Scotland consistently stands out for being higher. Overall, however, the rates should be treated with caution, and not be over-analysed, as the absolute numbers of deaths are low and prone to significant variability (e.g. for comparison in Wales in 2012/13 the fatal injury rate was 14.29 (4 deaths). Furthermore the difficulty of establishing accurate employment figures for the agriculture sector means that any of these injury rates should be treated with a degree of caution 4. The Farm Safety Partnership for Scotland will focus on four key areas; falls from height, livestock incidents, workplace transport and machinery incidents and will use the initials from Falls, Animals, Transport and Equipment as the basis of a strap line "Don't leave it to FATE". These four areas account for around 70% of the fatal injuries over the last decade. The partnership has produced a leaflet carrying basic information on these areas as material for the launch. This will also be supported by a report collating fatal injuries in Scotland, extracted from the existing Agriculture Fatal Injuries Reports, to highlight the types of incidents in the past 10 years 5. This is the fourth partnership to be formed for the UK - England and Wales have been more advanced, setting up such partnerships around three years ago, and Northern Ireland has a partnership founded by HSE NI

Hand-arm Vibration – Health Case

6. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted SPS Aerostructures Ltd, a Nottinghamshire based aerospace engineering firm, after 24 workers were diagnosed with debilitating nerve conditions - both Hand Arm Vibration (HAVs) and carpal tunnel syndrome. The company ignored concerns raised by its own health and safety committee, trade union representatives and occupational health nurse who had raised concerns from 2005 onward. They allowed workers to use their own tools and work without any restriction using tools that created a high risk and the health surveillance provided was not effective. They also failed to respond to advice from HSE in 2010, when the first case was diagnosed. HSE served an Improvement Notice in 2011 and when the extent of the management failure to control risk became clear, pursued the investigation leading to the prosecution. 7. The Judge hearing the case characterised the failings as 'astonishing' for a company of this size and reputation. He acknowledged the devastating impact on the health of the workers. Several had operations, a number were removed from the work they were doing and one skilled metal sheet worker is no longer able to work in that field. He gave the firm credit for the comprehensive change achieved in response to the notice HSE served in 2011. The Judge noted that all the sentencing cases he could see on the HSE website on such matters had stayed in the Magistrates' Court, but HSE Counsel gave a convincing explanation as to why the case was suitable for Crown. The Judge also referred to a recent Crown Court case - where he said the offending was not as serious and over a much shorter time – and went on to fine the firm £125,000 for two breaches of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and awarded full costs of £65,805.83.

8. This case reinforces the extensive damage failure to control health risks can cause and the importance of genuine consultation with workers and their representatives.

Court of Appeal Hearing – Polyflor Ltd v HSE

9. On 18 July 2014 the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in the Polyflor case and dismissed the appeal by the company.

10. The case arose from an incident in which an employee was injured by a machine known as a hugging conveyor when trying to clear a jam. There had been an incident four years earlier when another employee had been injured by the same machine when employees removed the guard on the conveyor belt to clear a jam. A number of modifications were subsequently made to improve visibility when carrying out repairs but Polyflor continued to allow its employees to run the belt with the guards off when undertaking maintenance tasks. 11. The company had been convicted after a trial in February 2013 at Manchester Crown Court but appealed against the conviction on the ground that the judge should not have allowed the case to go to the jury as the evidence did not support the accident having been caused by the company's breach of duty. In particular, the company argued that there was no material risk because the employee had done something foolish in the way he had carried out the repair. The Court of Appeal rejected these arguments and reaffirmed previous case law in relation to the meaning of material and foreseeable risk confirming that the creation of a material risk by the carelessness (including gross carelessness) of an employee remains a material risk when considering whether there has been a breach of duty. 12. The Court made the point, however, that it was still open to a defendant in these circumstances to raise the defence of reasonable practicability. In this case, the company had chosen not to adduce any evidence of its own to demonstrate that it had done all that was reasonably practicable HSE’s Myth Busters Challenge Panel rules on its 300th case 13. The Mythbusters Challenge Panel has ruled on its 300th case since being launched in 2012. The case involved a village pub that didn’t have a mirror in the disabled toilet for ‘health and safety’ reasons. Mark Harper, DWP Minister, provided a quote for a press release which was published on social media alongside a series of tweets encouraging people to continue challenging ‘health and safety’ excuses. This generated a positive response on twitter with people discussing their favourite cases and commenting on the success and work of the Panel. 40th Anniversary of Health and Safety at Work etc Act 14. Last month we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Health and Safety At Work etc Act receiving Royal Assent with some internal and external communications activity:

A celebratory message from Kevin Myers to all HSE/HSL staff

A letter from our Minister to all MPs and peers An article in e-express and ebulletins Twitter engagement and a social media 'thunderclap' Display of pictorial milestones through the 40 years displayed online and in

Redgrave Court New website / intranet pages Infographics Pinterest 40th Anniversary page Quotes from 'influencers' in politics, business and industry about the Act

Prosecution of Tata Steel at Scunthorpe 15. In October 2012 an employee of Tata Steel at Scunthorpe, working at the Dawes Lane Coke Ovens received serious burns to his face, arms and back requiring skin grafts. A charging machine failed to lift a lid/valve and he approached to manually close the lid. His colleague charged the oven unaware of who was in the vicinity and the lid lifted off allowing flames to escape and cause the burns. 16. The investigation revealed a number of inadequacies covering training, instructions, safe system of work and maintenance. 17. On 10 July at Scunthorpe Magistrates Court the company pleaded guilty to a charge under HSWA 2(1); and on 18 July the company was fined £10,000 and costs of £2384 were awarded Destruction of Chemicals from Syria 18. As reported widely in the media, on 15th July, a shipment of chemicals from Syria was offloaded at Marchwood Military Port for transfer to Veolia and Mexichem in North West England, where it will be stored securely prior to destruction. HSE provided advice to the operators, FCO and MoD prior to the offloading operations that enabled the work at Marchwood to be carried out safely. HSE is continuing to advise the operators as they plan for the destruction of the material. Specified Animal Pathogen Orders (SAPO) 19. Before he moved on in the recent Government reshuffle, Mike Penning agreed to proposals for HSE to take a new approach to licensing and inspection of SAPO (specified animal pathogen order) sites which would lead to a more risk based regime and simplify the interface between duty holders and the regulator i.e. HSE would become the single enforcement authority with responsibility to issue licenses transferred to HSE from Defra. Tour de France in Yorkshire 20. HSE took an approach in seeking early assurance that key risks concerning crowd safety and temporary structures would be appropriately managed when the first three stages of the 2014 Tour de France came to England. An estimated 2.5 million spectators lined the route in Yorkshire on the first weekend in July. There was no single organising committee in control of the whole event so each local

authority assumed responsibility for their section of the race. The hilly and occasionally remote route posed some crowd management challenges for the organisers for the 2 stages in Yorkshire. This was less of an issue for Stage 3 from Cambridge to London which was a flat sprint. Leeds, Harrogate, York and Sheffield were less well-used to dealing with such events than London. HSE provided advice and support to local authority colleagues before the event and did some limited inspection of stages, big screen and grandstand structures. A major incident plan was in place and a small team remained on-call for the race weekend.

Update on Gas Safe Register: Five Years On

21. Capita Gas Registration and Ancillary Services Ltd (CGRAS) has operated the statutory gas engineer’s registration scheme, on behalf of HSE under a Service Concession Agreement (SCA), since 1 April 2009. In the summer of 2013, the HSE Board endorsed an in depth review of CGRAS’ performance since 2009, and supported the continuation of the full 10-year term of the SCA until March 2019. 22. HSE and CGRAS held their fifth annual review of the operation of the Gas Safe Register in June 2014. The key performance indicators (KPIs) in the SCA are used to monitor the delivery of the registration scheme. Achievement against the KPIs in Year 5 of the scheme's operation has been good. The KPIs were subject to a revision for Year 5 to encourage behavioural change activity for gas consumers to have annual safety checks on their gas appliances, undertaken by a Gas Safe registered engineer. 23. CGRAS ran their third national Gas Safety Week in September 2013, delivering a series of gas safety messages in a concentrated week of activity. This generated in excess of 145 million ‘opportunities to see’ messages across a range of media and events, and was supported by 2,700 organisations from across the gas industry in Great Britain. 24. CGRAS also successfully run the HSE Gas Safety Advice Line (GSAL), and have been operating this service on behalf of HSE since 1 October 2011. CGRAS are dealing with an average of over 450 telephone calls a month on the dedicated GSAL. The GSAL is entirely separate from the main contact centre at Gas Safe Register, which receives an average of over 15,500 calls per month from consumers as well as 8,000 technical calls per month from registered engineers on its dedicated technical call line. CGRAS’ national team of field inspectors undertook over 41,000 inspections during 2013-14 including following up complaints of unsafe or illegal gas work.

Annex 1

Communications Overview June 2014 Introduction This report summarises key communications activity in June 2014. News and PR Among a number of high-profile incidents that generated a large volume of calls to press office was an injury sustained by actor Harrison Ford on the set of the new Star Wars film. The actor’s publicist told journalists that he had broken an ankle in an incident involving a door at Pinewood Studios. Most media reported, correctly, that HSE is investigating. Press office continued to give priority to exposing misreporting of health and safety in national and regional media, and in online reporting. Stories blaming ‘health and safety’ for a ban on bunting for the Tour de France’s opening stages in Yorkshire, and on England flags being flown on construction sites during the World Cup, were challenged using Twitter and blogs. HSE featured prominently in reporting of the decision to relocate the music festival, T in the Park, with press office briefing journalists on the history to the move and HSE’s advisory role. There was favourable coverage at the end of the month when HSE published its report on asbestos compliance at selected non-local authority schools. Internal Communications The annual senior management team visits began in Bootle on Thursday 19 June, with a further 35 sessions taking place at 28 different locations before the programme concluded in Basingstoke, Bristol and London on 28 July. The visits offered an opportunity to reflect on 40 years of the Health and Safety at Work Act and consider what the future may hold for HSE. A new element to the visits was a discussion session, which focused on HSE2020 and HSE’s draft values. A full feedback report will be presented following the end of the programme. The second Managers’ Forum took place on Friday 6 June as part of the engage programme. It combined a teleconference with an online meeting, enabling Band 1 staff, SCS colleagues and HR Business Partners to hear from senior management colleagues and discuss topics such as the joint Board/SMT HSE2020 strategy, Triennial Review and HSE’s values. Once again, feedback gathered via on-screen polling questions was very positive. Another engage initiative, the second HSE Pulse Survey, drew another set of encouraging responses. Every month, 350 randomly-selected employees are invited to share their views with management via a short questionnaire. The engagement index was 52 per cent – down three per cent on wave one, but still two per cent higher than the 2013 People Survey results. Wave three results for July, plus a first quarter summary, will be presented to the senior management team in August. Other notable activities during the month included communicating to staff the Government’s response to the Triennial Review.

Annex 1

Website and Digital Marketing The first quarter of 2014 was a busy period for the website, with 4.9 million visitors – 200,000 more than the same period last year - making 7.8 million visits. The ongoing programme of maintenance and development continues, with 174 revisions or additions logged in June, including publication of the annual report and accounts. Other publications uploaded in month include:

Health and safety in care homes [HSG220] (Second edition) Part 2 of Legionnaires' disease: Control of legionella HSG274 was published,

and the three parts published together as hard copy Two revised leaflets (Hand-arm vibration: A guide for employees [INDG296]

and Manual handling assessment charts (the MAC tool) [INDG383]) and five information sheets were published under the external guidance review

The eBulletins continued to be an effective means of driving engagement with the website. eBulletin articles linking to a myth buster’s case about removal of England flags during the World Cup attracted 14,630 visits in June alone.

Online Consultations The following HSE consultations began or concluded during June:

CD269 – Consultation on proposals on the alignment of health and safety regulations with the EU direct acting Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation Consultation began on 12 June and ends on 5 August.

CD271 – Consultation on Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002. Consultation on a proposed revised version of the DSEAR ACOP, L133 – Unloading petrol from road tankers. Began on 11 June and ends on 22 July.

CD 266 - Consultation on Draft Regulations to implement Council Directive 2012/EU/18 (Seveso III) on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances, amending and subsequently repealing Council Directive 96/82/EC (Seveso II) Consultation on the Seveso III Directive ended on 27 June.

CD 261 – Consultation on replacement of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 Consultation ended on 6 June.

CD267 – Consultation on the proposal for new Regulations on health and safety in mines Consultation ended on 1 June.

Annex 2

Fatality details Since the last update to the HSE Board on Wednesday 2nd July 2014, 6 fatal accidents for 2013/2014 and 25 fatal accidents for 2014/15 reportable under RIDDOR and subsequently published on HSE’s website. Please see Annex 2 for details. In some cases, the publication of a fatality on the HSE website and notification to the Board may be some months after the actual date of the initial incident. This is due to the verification checks that are carried out to ensure that the fatality is within HSE’s enforcement remit and if so, the correct information is subsequently published. The complex nature of some fatality investigations may mean that it can take some time to verify this information. Of the 31 fatalities listed in the current report, 11 occurred prior to May 2014. 14 fatalities occurred in May 2014, compared with 11 which occurred in May 2013. 6 fatalities occurred in June 2014, compared with 18 which occurred in June 2013. The full list of the names of the deceased plus additional details may be viewed at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/fatalities/in-year-names.htm. Significant Prosecutions during June 2014

1. West Midlands Travel Ltd was fined a total of £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £35,119 by Wolverhampton Crown Court after an employee died when he was crushed between two buses

2. The Healthcare Management Trust was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £7,500 in prosecution costs and Rothwell Robinson Ltd was fined £10,000 with costs of £7,500 at Manchester Crown Court for safety failings following the death of an elderly resident at a care home in Manchester

3. John Glen (Installation Services) Ltd was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £40,000 in costs and Tremorfa Ltd was fined £50,000 with costs of £40,000 also pleaded guilty to the same charge at Cardiff Crown Court for serious safety failings after a five-year-old girl was crushed to death by an electric gate

4. Robert Marsh of RM Developments (2005) Ltd was given a 12 month prison sentence and disqualified from being a director for six years and ordered to pay £10,000 costs at Worcester Crown Court after his company illegally supplied roofing panels containing asbestos which led to the death of a 56-year-old construction worker who fell through the roof when he was using the fragile material

5. IBC Vehicles Ltd was fined a total of £155,000 and ordered to pay £22,795 in costs at Luton Crown Court after a crane operator suffered severe crush injuries in a lifting operation at the company’s press shop in Luton

Annex 2

6. H Ripley & Co was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £34,633 in full costs and John Platt, t/a John Platt Services was fined £10,000 with £5,000 to pay costs at Lewes Crown Court for serious safety breaches that led to a site worker losing both legs as the doors of a 16-tonne baling machine closed on him

7. Europlast (Blackburn) Ltd as fined £50,010 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £23,102 at Preston Crown Court after an employee had part of a finger amputated after his left hand became trapped in unguarded machinery in June 2012

8. GBN Services Ltd was fined £28,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,777 at Chelmsford Crown Court after a worker suffered crush injuries when his arm was caught in an unguarded moving conveyor belt at a site in Essex

9. Hugh Logan Plant and Engineering Services Ltd was fined £16,000 and Falburn Engineering Ltd fined £10,000 by Stirling Sheriff Court after a worker’s hand was crushed while unloading steel beams

10. DAS Technology Ltd was fined a total of £25,000 and ordered to pay £541 in costs by Barnsley Magistrates Court after an employee fell more than four metres through a fragile roof light while installing solar panels on a barn in Barnsley

11. Renfrewshire Council was fined £20,000 by Paisley Sheriff Court after an elderly tenant fell four feet through an access hole in her hallway that had been left uncovered by council workers

12. John Watson & Co Ltd was fined £20,000 by Glasgow Sheriff Court after a worker narrowly escaped major injury after falling five metres through a fragile roof light

13. Duncan Plumbing, Heating and Electrics Ltd was fined the maximum magistrates were able to impose £20,000 and ordered to pay £3,408 at Bradford Magistrates Court when a 54-year-old Leeds worker suffered life-changing injuries when he plunged nearly seven metres through an unsafe roof light while installing solar power racking

FOI Requests made to HSE

HSE received 418 FOI requests during the month of June 2014.

Parliamentary Business

HSE answered 7 PQs during the Month of June 2014.

Annex 2

The following table is an extract of all work-related deaths in 2013/14 and 2014/15 notified to HSE since the last update to the Board on Wednesday 2nd July 2014 and contains fatalities notified to us in May and June 2014. It is taken from the latest "Names and details of fatalities" update published on HSE's website on Monday 4th August 2014. HSE's internet publication is the collated picture of ‘as reported’ information on fatalities. It does not purport to be a formal statistical release. Subsequent investigation may determine that some are not reportable under RIDDOR, for example deaths due to natural causes. Other deaths shown here may have been caused by gas incidents in the home. In such cases these deaths will not be counted in our statistics for workplace fatal injuries. Provisional quarterly figures for workplace fatal injuries are available from our latest quarterly injury figures and validated figures and information will only be available on publication of the annual fatality statistics for Great Britain.

Date of incident

Name Age Description of incident Location of incident

Local Authority General Industry Sector

Detailed Standard Industry Classification

Employment status

03/07/2013 Patrick Lyons 85 The deceased died whilst under

residential nursing care

Salford Salford Services Residential Nursing Care Member of the public

08/10/2013 Astley Lewis 72 The deceased died following a fall

London Hackney LB Services General cleaning of buildings

Employee

14/01/2014 Richard Banks 67 The deceased fell from height

Gateshead Gateshead Construction Construction Installation nec

Member of the public

07/03/2014 Rene Tkacik 43 The deceased was struck by an object

London City of London Construction Construction of buildings Employee

14/03/2014 Joseph Johnson

64 The deceased died while working at

height

Leeds Leeds Construction Electrical Installation Employee

26/03/2014 Steven Weedon 34 The deceased fell from height

Southport Sefton Construction Construction of buildings Employee

01/04/2014 Keanne Wallis-Bennett

12 The deceased was struck by an object

Edinburgh Edinburgh UA Services General Secondary Education

Member of the public

10/04/2014 Gursawek Singh

33 The deceased came into contact with

machinery

Nottingham Nottingham UA Water/Waste Management

Recovery of sorted materials

Member of the public

Annex 2

Date of incident

Name Age Description of incident Location of incident

Local Authority General Industry Sector

Detailed Standard Industry Classification

Employment status

21/04/2014 John Turner 57 The deceased died after coming into contact with cattle

Wragby East Lindsey Agriculture Mixed farming Employee

23/04/2014 Robin Henry Chappell

71 The deceased came into contact with

machinery

Spalding South Holland Agriculture Growing of vegetables and melons, roots & tubers

Self employed

29/04/2014 Cameron Laing 20 The deceased was struck by a moving

vehicle

Devon Mid Devon Services Other passenger land transport nec

Employee

06/05/2014 Abidin Turker 30 The deceased fell from height

South Ferriby North Lincolnshire Manufacturing Repair of machinery Employee

08/05/2014 Daniel Adams 63 The deceased was struck by a moving

vehicle

Swinton Manchester Services Warehousing and storage facilities for land transport

activities

Employee

13/05/2014 Ben Wylie 24 The deceased was struck by an object

Maidenhead Windsor & Maidenhead

Construction Civil engineering project nec

Employee

14/05/2014 Peter Jakeman 63 The deceased came into contact with cattle

Ashbourne East Staffordshire Agriculture Mixed farming Member of the public

14/05/2014 Kestutis Blaskys

31 The deceased came into contact with

machinery

London Lewisham Construction Other building completion Self employed

15/05/2014 Robert Young 68 The deceased came into contact with cattle

Redhill North Somerset Agriculture Other cattle and buffaloes Self Employed

17/05/2014 Richard Calsen 25 The deceased came into contact with

machinery

Chorley Chorley Manufacturing Repair of fabricated metal products

Employee

19/05/2014 Ian McArdle 40 The deceased was trapped by a

collapsing vehicle

North Killingholme

North East Lincolnshire

Services Motor vehicle repair Employee

19/05/2014 Kevin Dorman 25 The deceased was struck by a moving

vehicle

Sidmouth East Devon Agriculture Mixed farming Employee

20/05/2014 Robert Bird 55 The deceased fell from height

Kennett East Cambridgeshire

Construction Construction of buildings Employee

Annex 2

Date of incident

Name Age Description of incident Location of incident

Local Authority General Industry Sector

Detailed Standard Industry Classification

Employment status

20/05/2014 Nicholas John Sutton-Mills

67 The deceased fell from height

Stafford Stafford Agriculture Other perennial crops Employee

24/05/2014 John Bodycote 67 The deceased came into contact with cattle

Leicester Harborough Agriculture Mixed farming Self employed

27/05/2014 William Barker 68 The deceased's vehicle was struck by

an object

Oswestry Shropshire UA Services Freight transport by road Employee

27/05/2014 Clifford Price 71 The deceased was struck by an

overturning vehicle

Builth Wells Powys UA Agriculture Mixed farming Self Employed

03/06/2014 Michael Graham Day

79 The deceased came into contact with cattle

Chesterfield North East Derbyshire

Agriculture Mixed farming Self employed

05/06/2014 Matthew Fullylove

30 The deceased came into contact with

machinery

Leeds Leeds Manufacturing Manufacture of cement Employee

13/06/2014 Richard Perry 43 The deceased fell from height

Bradford Bradford Manufacturing Manufacture of plastic packing goods

Employee

22/06/2014 Dave Fields 75 The deceased was struck by a moving

vehicle

Cwmbran Torfaen UA Services Other personal service activities nec

Member of the public

26/06/2014 Christopher Crammond

40 The deceased was struck by an object

Rochester Medway Towns UA

Construction Specialised construction not scaffolding

Employee

28/06/2014 Shane Marshall 29 The deceased was trapped by something

collapsing

Doncaster Doncaster Construction Construction installation nec

Self employed

Annex 3 AUGUST 2014 UPDATE ON EU HEALTH AND SAFETY DOSSIERS

This annex to the Chief Executive’s Report provides the Board with a monthly update on progress with EU health and safety dossiers that HSE leads on for HMG or other dossiers that HSE has an interest in but not the lead. To help the Board keep track of developments, each dossier is either marked ‘UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE’ or ‘NEW DEVELOPMENTS’. For further information about this annex, please contact Stephen Taylor, EU Coordinator in HSE’s International Unit (Tel: 020 7227 3830 or e-mail: stephen.taylor@hse.gsi.ov.uk)

SOCIAL DIALOGUE: EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS DOSSIERS: Social partners consultation on environmental tobacco smoke Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The European Commission has announced that it will not propose legislation on environmental tobacco smoke during its current mandate. Lead Department HSE contact

DH HSE SCS Lead – Kären Clayton HSE Policy Lead – Gillian Smith, Long Latency Health Risks Division, 0151 951 4919, gill.fod.smith@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Social partners consultation on reviewing the Working Time Directive Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): In September 2009, the European Commission (EC) announced its commitment to review the Working Time Directive, following the collapse of the previous round of negotiations on amending the Directive in April 2009. There have since been two rounds of social partner consultation on options for the Directive, with the social partners subsequently having decided to open negotiations on an agreement on the Directive, though those talks have now reached an impasse. The EC is now deciding on next steps. HSE has a role in enforcing the domestic regulation that transposes the original Directive. Lead Department HSE contact

BIS HSE SCS Lead – David Sowerby HSE Policy Lead – Tanya Stewart, Field Operations Directorate, 0151 951 5851, tanya.stewart@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Annex 3

PRE-PROPOSAL STAGE: EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS DOSSIERS: Initiative on Ergonomics at Work Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The European Commission has announced that it will not propose legislation on ergonomics in the workplace during its current mandate. Lead Department HSE contact

HSE SCS Lead – Paul Logan Policy Lead – Rob Vondy, Work Environment, Radiation and Gas Division, 0151 951 3756, rob.vondy@hse.gsi.gov.uk SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Initiative to revise the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (2004/37/EC) Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The European Commission has announced that it will not propose legislation on carcinogens and mutagens during its current mandate. Lead Department HSE contact

HSE SCS Lead – Kären Clayton Policy Lead – Gillian Smith, Long Latency Health Risks Division, 0151 951 4919, gill.fod.smith@hse.gsi.gov.uk SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Potential implementation of social partners agreement on the prevention of health risks in the hairdressing sector Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The European Commission has announced that it will not propose legislation to implement the social partner agreement on the protection of occupational safety and health in hairdressing during its current mandate. However, work underway to make an assessment of the agreement will continue. Lead Department HSE contact

HSE SCS Lead – Kevin Myers Policy Lead – Cameron Adam, Operational Strategy Division, 0141 275 3096, cameron.adam@hse.gsi.gov.uk SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Annex 3 UNDER NEGOTIATION:

EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS DOSSIERS: Proposed amendment of Pregnant Workers Directive (92/85/EC) Current status (NEW DEVELOPMENTS): The European Parliament (EP) has proposed a number of amendments to the Directive, including ones on health and safety, following its plenary session on 20 October 2010. The EP’s amended proposal has been sent to the Council, where it remains under consideration. The European Commission has, however, recently announced, as part of its continuing regulatory fitness programme, that it will withdraw its proposal for amending the Directive. Lead Department HSE contact

BIS HSE SCS Lead – Clive Fleming HSE Policy Lead – Kate Haire, Strategic Interventions Division, 0151 951 3792, kate.haire@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DOSSIERS: Proposed Regulation on Product Safety and Market Surveillance Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The European Commission has published a proposal for a regulation on product safety and market surveillance as part of a coherent package to cover the market surveillance of industrial and consumer products, including explosives for civil use which is a HSE lead. It seeks to simplify the EU’s market surveillance framework for manufacturers and market surveillance authorities. The proposal contains powers of product recall, specifies equal priority to dealing with administrative breaches, strengthens the obligation to respond to issues raised by other member states and explicitly makes provision for the ability to charge fees to cover the costs of market surveillance activities. HSE is acting as an advisor to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the proposal. Lead Department HSE contact

BIS HSE SCS Leads – Paul Logan, Peter Brown HSE Policy Leads – Pete Lennon, Work Environment, Radiation and Gas Division, 0151 951 3014, peter.lennon@hse.gsi.gov.uk, and Debra Owen, Major Hazards Policy Division, 0151 951 3863, debra.owen@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Annex 3 Proposed Regulation on Consumer Product Safety Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The European Commission has also published, as part of the package of product safety and market surveillance measures mentioned above, a proposal for a regulation on consumer product safety. It would replace the General Product Safety Directive. The proposal includes in its scope products to which consumers are exposed in the provision of a service. HSE is acting as an advisor to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the proposal. Lead Department HSE contact

BIS HSE SCS Leads – Paul Logan, Peter Brown HSE Policy Leads – Pete Lennon, Work Environment, Radiation and Gas Division, 0151 951 3014, peter.lennon@hse.gsi.gov.uk, and Debra Owen, Major Hazards Policy Division, 0151 951 3863, debra.owen@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Proposed Regulation on Personal Protective Equipment (replace the Personal Protective Equipment (supply) Directive (89/686/EC)) Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The European Commission has published a proposal to replace the Personal Protective Equipment (supply) Directive with a European Regulation. The proposal will bring the supply side requirements of the Directive into line with the European Regulation on accreditation and market surveillance of products. Negotiations have now begun. HSE is acting as an advisor to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the proposal. Negotiations are not expected to be complete until late 2015. Lead Department HSE contact

BIS HSE SCS Lead – Paul Logan HSE Policy Lead – Pete Lennon, Work Environment, Radiation and Gas Division, 0151 951 3014, peter.lennon@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Annex 3 ENVIRONMENT DOSSIERS:

Essential use application following non-inclusion of copper in Annex I, IA or IB of the Biocidal Products Directive (98/8/EC) Current status (NEW DEVELOPMENTS): On 9 February 2012, the European Commission (EC) took a decision not to include elemental copper in Annex I, IA or IB of the Biocidal Products Directive (98/8/EC) in relation to biocidal product type 2 (private area and public health area disinfectants and other biocidal products), type 4 (food and feed area disinfectants), type 5 (drinking water disinfectants) and type 11 (preservatives for liquid-cooling and processing systems). The decision was taken because no manufacturer took sufficient action to support the biocidal use of elemental copper during a review period that ended in September 2011. The decision means that supply and use of biocidal copper within these product types has not been allowed from 1 February 2013. However the UK applied to the EC on 29 January 2013 for an ‘essential use derogation’ for copper to allow for its continued use in legionella control systems in the UK within product types 2 and 5. The EC granted the derogation in a Commission Decision published on 15 February 2014. This means that continued supply and use of copper is allowed in the UK while suppliers of copper-based systems prepare their case to support copper through the Directive’s assessment process. The Commission Decision has been combined with derogations requested by other member states. Companies have been contacted and applications to HSE for authorisation of the relevant biocidal products have now been granted. The UK has also applied for a derogation for uses in Product Type 11 biocidal products (concerning the use of copper to control bio-fouling on seawater inlet/pumps and internal pipe work on oil rigs as well as heat exchangers on ships), and additional uses for Product Type 2 biocides (disinfects for swimming pools and animal pools). The EC granted the derogation in a Commission Decision published on 26 June, and applications to HSE for authorisation of the relevant biocidal products have started to arrive. Lead Department HSE contact

HSE SCS Lead – Kären Clayton Policy Lead – Robin Foster, Long Latency Health Risks Division, 020 7556 3533, robin.foster@hse.gsi.gov.uk SCS Lawyer – Peter Loosley

Proposed Commission Implementing Regulation for the approval of six active substances and non-approval of nine active substances under the EU Biocides Regulation (528/2012) Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The March 2014 meeting of the Standing Committee on Biocidal Products voted to approve 6 active substances under the European Biocides Regulation (cyproconazole, silicon dioxide, transfluthrin, ethyl butylacetylaminopropionate, lauric acid and 4,5-Dichloro-2-octyl-2H-isothiazol-3-one (DCOIT)). The meeting also voted in favour of a European Commission Decision not to approve 9 active substances for use in specific product types and for which support has been withdrawn or dossiers have not been submitted for review by the required deadline (glutaral, disilver oxide, 4,4-Dimethyloxazolidine, 2-Butanone, peroxide, silver chloride, pine extract, triclosan Bis[1-cyclohexyl-1,2-di(hydroxi-kappa O)diazeniumato(2-)]-copper and 2-Phenoxyethanol). Lead Department HSE contact

HSE SCS Lead – Kären Clayton Policy Lead – Robin Foster, Long Latency Health Risks Division, 020 7556 3533, robin.foster@hse.gsi.gov.uk SCS Lawyer – Peter Loosley

Annex 3 TRANSPORT DOSSIER: Proposed Regulation on Cableways Installations (replace Directive on Cableways Installations (2000/09/EC)) Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The European Commission has published a proposal to replace the Cableways Directive with a European Regulation. The proposal will bring the supply side requirements of the Directive into line with the European Regulation on accreditation and market surveillance of products. Negotiations have just begun. HSE is acting as an advisor to the Department for Transport on the proposal. Negotiations are not expected to be complete until late 2015. Lead Department HSE contact

DfT HSE SCS Lead – Paul Logan HSE Policy Lead – Pete Lennon, Work Environment, Radiation and Gas Division, 0151 951 3014, peter.lennon@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Annex 3 UNDER IMPLEMENTATION: EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS DOSSIER: Directive on electromagnetic fields (2013/35/EU) Current status (NEW DEVELOPMENTS): The adopted Directive was published on 29 June 2013 and requires transposition by 1 July 2016. It replaces the 2004 Electromagnetic Fields Directive. HSE is continuing to work with stakeholders to develop guidance and to assess the impact of the Directive. Lead Department HSE contact

HSE SCS Lead – Paul Logan Policy Lead – Clare McNicholas, Work Environment, Radiation and Gas Division, 0151 951 3972, clare.mcnicholas@hse.gsi.gov.uk SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Directive (2014/27/EU) to amend certain health and safety at work directives to align them with the European Regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (1272/2008) Current status (NEW DEVELOPMENTS): The adopted Directive was published on 5 March 2013 and requires transposition by 1 June 2015. Following Board clearance on 21 May, the public consultation on proposals to transpose the Directive commenced on 12 June for a period of 8 weeks. Final proposals following analysis of the consultation comments will be put to the Board in September/October time. Lead Department HSE contact

HSE SCS Lead – Kären Clayton Policy Lead – Sarah Mallagh, Long Latency Health Risks Division, 0151 951 4560, sarah.mallagh@hse.gsi.gov.uk SCS Lawyer – Peter Loosley

Directive on enforcement of posted workers rights (2014/67/EU) Current status (NEW DEVELOPMENTS): The adopted Directive was published on 28 May 2014 and requires transposition by 18 June 2016. It concerns the enforcement of workers’ rights when they are posted abroad by their employers, i.e. what are classified as ‘posted workers’. The numbers of posted workers in the UK is relatively small (less than 37,000. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the lead on transposition, is conducting an analysis of the transposition requirements, for discussion with interested government bodies (including HSE) in August. The requirements the Directive places on HSE are largely administrative or procedural, suggesting that transposing regulations will be unnecessary. Lead Department HSE contact

BIS HSE SCS Lead – Clive Fleming

Annex 3 HSE Policy Lead – Kate Haire, Strategic Interventions Division, 0151 951 3792, kate.haire@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

INDUSTRY AND ENTERPRISE DOSSIERS:

EU Regulation on the approval and market surveillance of agricultural and forestry vehicles (167/2013) Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The adopted Regulation was published on 2 March 2013 and replaces the previous Agricultural Vehicles Type Approval Directive (2003/37/EC). The European Commission is in the process of drawing up five delegated acts to implement the Regulation in respect of functional safety requirements, construction safety requirements, environmental and propulsion performance, access to repair and maintenance information and vehicle braking requirements. The Department for Transport is leading on this work for the UK. HSE is advising on health and safety issues. Lead Department HSE contact

DfT HSE SCS Lead – Philip White HSE Policy Lead – Alastair Mitchell, Operational Strategy Division, 01905 74 3608, alastair.mitchell@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Peter Loosley

Directives on explosives for civil use (2014/28/EU), lifts (2014/33/EU), low voltage (2014/35/EU), pressure equipment (2014/68/EU), simple pressure vessels (2014/29/EU) and pyrotechnics (2013/29/EU) (recasts) Current status (NEW DEVELOPMENTS): Following the earlier publication of the recast Directive on pyrotechnics, further recast directives on explosives for civil use, lifts, low voltage, pressure equipment, and simple pressure vessels have now been published. These directives bring their existing supply side requirements into line with the European Regulation on accreditation and market surveillance of products. The recast of the Pressure Equipment Directive also brings it into line with the European Regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures. HSE is the lead on explosives for civil uses but also has enforcement responsibilities under the other directives. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is leading on the transposition of the overall package with HSE acting as an advisor on relevant issues. Lead Department HSE contact

BIS HSE SCS Lead – Paul Logan, Peter Brown HSE Policy Leads – Pete Lennon, Work Environment, Radiation and Gas Division, 0151 951 3014, peter.lennon@hse.gsi.gov.uk, and Debra Owen, Major Hazards Policy Division, 0151 951 3863, debra.owen@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Peter Loosley

Annex 3 ENVIRONMENT DOSSIERS:

EC Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances (REACH) (1907/2006) Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): This Regulation came into force on 1 June 2007. Key recent developments include: Work continues to take forward the permitted derogation from the new EU restriction on use of paint-strippers containing dichloromethane. A

below the line paper was submitted to the Board in March outlining the outcome of the recent consultation (November 2013-January 2014) on the proposed implementation of the derogation and the arrangements for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to make the necessary changes to the REACH Enforcement Regulations 2008. Defra is currently seeking clearance for its proposals.

The REACH Enforcement Regulations 2008 have been amended to bring them into line with the EU REACH Regulation in relation to the latter’s asbestos derogation. Discussions will continue with Defra on this issue on a case-by-case basis as required.

Lead Department HSE contact

DEFRA (Policy Lead) HSE (UK Competent Authority) HSE SCS Lead – Kären Clayton HSE Policy Lead – Robin Foster, Long Latency Health Risks Division, 020 7556 3533, robin.foster@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Peter Loosley

Directive on control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances (2012/18/EU) Current status (UNCHANGED FROM LAST BOARD UPDATE): The adopted Directive was published on 24 July, and replaces Directive 96/82/EC, as amended by Directive 2003/105/EC. It brings existing ‘Seveso’ requirements into line with the European Regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures. It also modernises existing public information requirements, including bringing them into line with the Aarhus Convention on public information, public participation and access to justice for environmental matters. Directive 2012/18/EC requires transposition by 31 May 2015, except one provision which relates to Heavy Fuel Oil which requires transposition by 14 February 2014 and which has now been completed. Planning for transposition of the Directive is in progress. Discussions in Europe are on-going on a number of issues that need clarification to assist with transposition of the Directive. Lead Department HSE contact

HSE SCS Lead – Peter Brown Policy Lead – Sandra Ashcroft, Major Hazards Policy Division, 0151 951 3531, sandra.ashcroft@hse.gsi.gov.uk SCS Lawyer – Hilton Leslie

Annex 3 ENERGY DOSSIER: Directive on safety of offshore oil and gas drilling operations (2013/30/EU) Current status (NEW DEVELOPMENTS): The adopted Directive was published on 28 June 2013 and requires transposition by 19 July 2015. The Department for Energy and Climate Change and HSE are working together to transpose the Directive. The public consultation on proposals to transpose the Directive was launched on 28 July and ends on 21 September. Lead Department HSE contact

DECC HSE SCS Lead – Peter Brown HSE Policy Lead – Jim Neilson, Major Hazards Policy Division, 0151 951 4434, jim.neilson@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Peter Loosley

EURATOM DOSSIER: Directive on Basic Safety Standards for Radiological Protection (2013/59/Euratom) Current status (NEW DEVELOPMENTS): The adopted Directive was published on 28 June 2013 and requires transposition by 19 July 2015. The Department for Energy and Climate Change and HSE are working together to transpose the Directive. HSE is beginning preparations for an event in November with key stakeholders to discuss the differences between existing regulations (the Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999 and the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001) and the new Directive. Lead Department HSE contact

DECC HSE SCS Lead – Paul Logan Policy Lead – Clare McNicholas, Work Environment, Radiation and Gas Division, 0151 951 3972, clare.mcnicholas@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE SCS Lawyer – Peter Loosley