The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988

UK Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 1657 — creates 1 criminal offence.

1offences created

0recorded in force

0revoked

Made: 26 September 1988
In force from: 1 October 1989
Extent: Not stated
Subject: Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries
Made under: Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The Regulations impose duties on employers to protect employees and other persons who may be exposed to substances hazardous to health and also impose certain duties on employees. The terms used in the Regulations, including the term “substance hazardous to health” are defined in regulation 2. By regulation 3 duties are imposed on employers (who for the purposes of these Regulations include self-employed persons) for the protection of their employees and of other persons who may be affected by their work. Regulation 4 prohibits the importation, supply and use at work of specified substances, and also prohibits the use of specified substances in specified processes (Schedule 2). The application of the provisions which relate to the exposure of employees (set out in regulations 6 to 12) is defined by regulation 5. Regulation 6 requires employers to assess the risks to health created by work which is liable to expose their employees to substances hazardous to health and the steps that need to be taken by them to meet the requirements of the Regulations. Regulation 7 imposes a duty on employers to prevent or, where this is not reasonably practicable, adequately to control the exposure to substances hazardous to health of their employees. Where the substance is one for which a maximum exposure limit is specified in Schedule 1, that limit, so far as the inhalation of the substance is concerned, must not be exceeded and the exposure must be reduced so far as is reasonably practicable below it. As respects a substance for which the Health and Safety Commission has approved an occupational exposure standard, control to that standard is to be treated as adequate so far as inhalation of the substance is concerned. Regulation 7 also requires prevention or adequate control to be achieved so far as is reasonably practicable by means other than the use of personal protective equipment and that where adequate control is achieved by the use of respiratory protective equipment, that equipment should be of a type or conform to a standard approved by the Health and Safety Executive. Requirements are imposed by regulation 8 upon employers and employees to make proper use of the control measures provided, and by regulation 9 upon employers for the maintenance of those control measures. The monitoring of exposure to substances hazardous to health is required for the substances and processes specified in Schedule 4 and in any other case where such monitoring is requisite for maintaining adequate control or protecting the health of employees (regulation 10). Regulation 11 requires that, where appropriate for the protection of the health of employees, they must be under health surveillance and in the case of employees who are exposed to one of the substances and engaged in a process specified in Schedule 5 that health surveillance must include medical surveillance by an employment medical adviser or appointed doctor. Regulation 12 requires that employees who may be exposed to substances hazardous to health are given suitable and sufficient information, instruction and training. A person who undertakes fumigations with specified fumigants is required by regulation 13 to notify in advance the persons specified in Schedule 7. Exceptions to this notification requirement are listed in Schedule 6. The regulations provide for exemptions in certain circumstances (regulation 14) and are applied by regulation 15 to certain activities in territorial waters adjacent to Great Britain. Regulation 16 provides for a defence in the case of a contravention of the regulations and regulation 17 for certain transitional provisions. Modifications relating to the Ministry of Defence are introduced by regulation 18. The provisions of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 (c. 70) and of the Factories Act 1961 (c. 34) which are specified in Schedule 8 are repealed by regulation 19, which also repeals the Hydrogen Cyanide (Fumigation) Act 1937 (c. 45) and revokes or modifies the regulations and orders specified in Schedule 9. This regulation also provides that notwithstanding those revocations, requirements in them for the keeping of any record or register shall remain in force. The Regulations are consistent with the provisions of the Council Directive No. 80/1107/EEC on the protection of workers from the risk related to exposure to chemical, physical and biological agents at work (OJ No. L 327, 3.12.80, p.8). Copies of the publications mentioned in the Regulations are obtainable as follows— the approved list (ISBN 0 11 883888 1 revised by ISBN 0 11 8239012) are obtainable from Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. a list of the occupational exposure standards which the Health and Safety Commission has approved is obtainable from the Health and Safety Executive, Baynards House, 1, Chepstow Place, London W2 4TF.

Offences created by this instrument

Contravention of The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988 the instrument as a whole · Status not determined · Strict liability

What Parliament said about it

Contributions, debates and written statements mentioning this instrument by name. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Pesticides Commons · Commons Chamber · 31 March 1995 · Mr. Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock)
This debate relates to the dangers to health caused by the use of lindane, but it also concerns other pesticides in the organochloride and organophosphorus groups which are increasingly used in the home, agriculture and manufacturing. One example to which I shall refer at a later stage is permethrin, which was sprayed on 8 October 1991 in the Grays benefit office where my constituent Cassy Stanton worked. She was in the early stages of pregnancy. I shall return to her case in a moment. As well as Cassy Stanton coming to my surgery, I was prompted to raise the issue of these chemicals by…
Awe Aldermaston Commons · Westminster Hall · 1 March 2000 · Mr. Spellar
If my hon. Friend does not mind, I shall deal with that matter when I deal with individual safety incidents. I stress that we shall insist on retaining the high level of safety standards that is already maintained. We shall be looking to whoever operates the site to act positively to improve current standards. Before I come on to the record of Hunting-BRAE, on which I differ from my hon. Friend the Member for Reading, West, it would be as well to go into the history of the site and explain how the particular situation has arisen with regard to its management. In the middle and late 1980s,…
Royal Parks (Trading) Bill Commons · Commons Chamber · 17 May 2000 · Mr. Maclean
I respect those who participate in Esperanto and recently attended a national conference on it in my constituency, but I did not think it appropriate to the new schedule. I was speaking about the part of amendment No. 28 that deals with the proposed new schedule. I consider amendment No. 28 to be terribly important, and I hope that the Minister will be able to reassure me that he will accept some of it in spirit or in context. The final part of amendment No. 28 relates to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988. Under proposed subsection (4)(c), the constable should…
Employment Relations Bill Commons · Commons Chamber · 14 January 2004 · Rob Marris
Sad to say, my hon. Friend may be right; the Conservatives are being evasive and are not giving us their true agenda. That would be true about many of the policies of the official Opposition. We need to debate the Bill more broadly rather than focusing only on the technicalities, many of which have been covered by hon. Members on both sides of the House, although I shall return to some of them if I have time. We need to cast our eyes a little wider and consider what kind of society we want to live in. Do we want a low-wage, low-skill society where employers grind the faces of the employees?…

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