UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Docks Regulations 1988

the instrument as a whole of The Docks Regulations 1988

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Docks Regulations 1988.

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
26 September 1988
In force from
1 January 1989
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 impose health, safety and welfare requirements with respect to dock operations (as defined in regulation 2). The Regulations apply to dock operations carried out in Great Britain and, to the extent specified in regulation 3, in territorial waters. A“fish loading process” (within the meaning of the Loading and Unloading of Fishing Vessels Regulations 1988), activities carried out in relation to pleasure craft and beach landing operations carried out by HM Forces or visiting forces are not“dock operations” for the purposes of the Regulations (regulation 2). Certain activities carried out on board a ship are included within the scope of the Regulations but no duties are imposed on the master, crew or their employer in relation to plant which remains on board the ship or to any dock operation carried out on the ship solely by the master or crew (regulation 4(4)). The Regulations:— a require dock operations to be planned and executed to avoid danger (regulation 5); b require the provision of suitable and adequate lighting and require dangerous obstacles to be made conspicuous (regulation 6); c impose requirements with respect to the provision and maintenance of means of access (regulation 7(1) and (2)); d impose requirements with respect to the safety of ladders (regulation 7(3) to (5)); e require fencing at specified places (regulation 7(6)); f impose requirements with respect to the safety of vessels used for transporting persons to working places, including requiring such vessels to be certified as suitable by a competent person unless a certificate as to survey carried out under the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 is in force (regulation 8); g require the provision of rescue, life-saving and fire-fighting equipment and means to effect escape from danger, and require the proper maintenance thereof (regulation 9); h impose requirements with respect to the safety of ship’s hatches and the operation of ramps and car-decks (regulation 10); i require that only employees who are authorised by their employers may drive powered vehicles or operate powered lifting appliances (regulation 11); j require vehicles to be properly maintained, and impose other requirements with respect to the use and movement of vehicles (regulation 12); k impose various requirements with respect to the safety of lifting plant including: requiring it to be of good design and construction, properly installed and maintained, and used safely (regulation 13); requiring it to be marked with its safe working load or loads and means of identification; and requiring lifting appliances to be fitted with safe working load indicators in certain cases (regulation 16); requiring it to be tested before being taken into use and after certain repairs, and to be examined after such a test and at yearly intervals (or sooner in certain circumstances), unless the plant is subject to the testing and examination requirements of the Merchant Shipping (Hatches and Lifting Plant) Regulations 1988 (regulations 14 and 15); requiring owners to obtain and keep certificates or reports of tests and examinations and to provide copies to employers or self-employed persons using or hiring the plant (regulation 17); requiring the person who made the test or examination to provide a copy of his certificate or report to the Health and Safety Executive in specified circumstances (regulation 17); l impose requirements with respect to entry into confined spaces (regulation 18); m require the provision of welfare amenities, and the provision of protective helmets and high visibility clothing in specified circumstances (regulation 19); n require persons at work to report defective plant (regulation 20). The Regulations provide for the issue of certificates of exemption by the Health and Safety Executive or the Secretary of State for Defence (regulation 21), and provide for enforcement by the Executive of these Regulations and the other“relevant statutory provisions” (within the meaning of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974) in relation to any activity in dock premises (regulation 22). Regulation 23 modifies section 125 of the Factories Act 1961 (which applies specified provisions of the Act to docks, warehouses, etc) by:— a extending the exclusions in respect of ship’s plant; b restricting the range of provisions of the Act applied by section 125 to warehouses which are dock premises; c applying certain provisions of the Act to dock premises, and applying the Act to dock premises belonging to or in occupation of the Crown to the extent that it applies to other dock premises. The Docks Regulations 1925 and the Docks Regulations 1934 are revoked by these Regulations, but there are transitional provisions for the keeping of certificates or registers relating to the testing and examination of plant under those Regulations (regulation 24).

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