UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Dangerous Substances in Harbour Areas Regulations 1987

the instrument as a whole of The Dangerous Substances in Harbour Areas Regulations 1987

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Dangerous Substances in Harbour Areas Regulations 1987.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
15 January 1987
In force from
1 June 1987
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations provide for the control of carriage, loading, unloading and storage of dangerous substances in harbours and harbour areas. The Regulations are divided into 10 parts. In addition to defining the terms used, the Regulations are applied to harbours and harbour areas in Great Britain and to those parts of harbour areas which are within the territorial waters adjacent to Great Britain. A person who intends to bring a dangerous substance into a harbour or harbour area, either from inland or from the sea, is required to give the harbour master advance notice of his intention. The harbour master is empowered to prohibit, require the removal of or regulate the entry of a dangerous substance into the harbour area if in his opinion the condition of the dangerous substance, its container or of the vehicle or vessel carrying it, is such as to create a risk to health or safety. Vessels carrying certain dangerous substances are required to show a red flag during the daytime and, when moored or anchored, a red light at night. The regulations also make provision for the marking of barges and for the navigation of vessels carrying dangerous substances within the harbour or harbour area. The regulations in this Part impose duties on every person who handles a dangerous substance in a harbour or harbour area to do so safely and to take all necessary precautions to avoid fire or explosion. These regulations also impose duties upon employers, self-employed persons and berth operators to ensure that persons handling dangerous substances are properly trained. The regulations in this Part impose duties relating to the carriage, loading and unloading of dangerous substances in bulk. They require that vessels so used are suitable and that suitable safety precautions are taken. They also require that permission is obtained from the harbour master and, where the vessel is at a berth, the berth operator before certain specified activities are carried out. The regulations in this Part require freight containers from inland containing dangerous substances to be accompanied by a certificate certifying that they have been properly packed and require precautions to be taken so that all freight containers can be unloaded safely. Portable tanks and receptacles from inland containing dangerous substances are required to be suitable for the purpose and to be labelled in accordance with relevant international transport rules or domestic legislation. These regulations require each harbour authority which handles dangerous substances in its harbour area to prepare an emergency plan for dealing with emergencies involving those dangerous substances. Berth operators are also required to take safety precautions when a vessel carrying, loading or unloading dangerous substances is at the berth. Duties are imposed on masters of vessels and berth operators to notify any untoward incident involving a dangerous substance which might create a risk of serious personal injury to persons within the harbour or harbour area. The regulations in this Part apply to the storage of dangerous substances in harbour areas ancillary to their being loaded onto or unloaded from a vessel. The operator of any storage tank to which this Part applies, which is used for such purposes is required to consult the fire authority and to take appropriate safety precautions. The regulations also impose requirements to ensure the safe storage of such substances in freight containers, portable tanks and receptacles and to ensure the safe parking of vehicles containing dangerous substances. The regulations in this Part prohibit, with certain exceptions, explosives from being brought into or handled in a harbour area unless such activities are covered by an explosives licence granted by the Health and Safety Executive. An explosives licence is also required for loading on board or unloading from a vessel of explosives when this occurs on any part of the coast or in the tidal waters of Great Britain or within the territorial waters adjacent to Great Britain. The procedure to be followed for the application and grant of explosives licences is set out and the fee payable by the applicant is specified. The regulations also impose requirements relating to the security of explosives, safety precautions and for the keeping of records. These regulations empower harbour authorities to make byelaws relating to dangerous substances. The procedure for making byelaws which requires the consent of the Secretary of State for Transport is set out in Schedule 6. The Regulations provide that the harbour authority shall be the enforcing authority for certain of the Regulations which relate to operations within the harbour area (namely Parts II and III of the Regulations and regulations 19, 29, 32(2) and 38) and that the Health and Safety Executive shall be the enforcing authority for the remaining regulations. The Regulations also provide for a defence in the case of contraventions of certain of the regulations and of byelaws made under them and for exemptions to be granted by the Health and Safety Executive or by the Secretary of State. The Regulations repeal as respects Great Britain the provisions mentioned in paragraphs (1) and (2) of regulation 47 and the byelaws made under them and with effect from 31st December 1989 the byelaws relating to petroleum mentioned in Part I of Schedule 8. The local Acts and byelaws mentioned in Part II of Schedule 8 are repealed and those in Part III of that Schedule are repealed with effect from 31st December 1989. Relevant documents Copies of relevant documents may be obtained as follows– Regulation Document Quoted Published by Available from 2(1) International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code – ISBN 92-801-1125-6 International Maritime Organisation (IMO) IMO, 4 AlbertEmbankment, London SE1 7SR 2(1) Schedule 3 Schedule 5 Transport of Dangerous Goods – Recommendations of the Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods ISBN 92-1-139022-2 United Nations HMSO 19(1) Code for the construction and equipment of ships carrying dangerous chemicals in bulk – ISBN 92-801-1182-5 IMO IMO 19(1) Code for the construction and equipment of ships carrying liquefied gases in bulk – ISBN 92-801-1165-5 IMO IMO 19(1) Code for existing ships carrying liquefied gases in bulk – ISBN 92-801-1051-9 plus supplement – ISBN 92-801-1101-9 IMO IMO 19(1)International code for the construction and equipment of ships carrying dangerous chemicals in bulk (IBC) – ISBN 92-801-1162-0 IMO IMO 19(1)International code for the construction and equipment of ships carrying liquefied gases in bulk (IGC) – ISBN 92-801-1163-9 IMO IMO 25(1)Schedule 1 Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials – ISBN 92-012-3185-7 International Atomic Energy Agency HMSO 25(1) Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air and Supplement – ISBN 0-940394-18-9 Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) International Aeradio Ltd, Aeradio House, Hayes Road, Southall, Middlesex UB2 5NG 25(1) European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) – ISBN 0-11-550735-3 Department of Transport HMSO 25(1) 1 Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID) – ISBN 0-11-550681-0 2 Amendment No 1 – ISBN 0-11-550745-0 Department of Transport HMSO Schedule 5 British Standard – BS Specification 381C 1980 British Standards Institution (BSI) BSI, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes MK14 6LE

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.70.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.70 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source