UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995

the instrument as a whole of The Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995.

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
1 August 1995
In force from
1 October 1995
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 contain requirements in relation to borehole operations carried on at borehole sites in Great Britain, for purposes of health and safety. The Regulations give effect on-shore (or, in the case of sub-paragraph (c) below, give effect in part) to the following provisions of Council Directive 92/91/EEC (OJ No. L348, 28.11.92, p.9), concerning the minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers in the mineral-extracting industries through drilling: Articles 3.1(a) and (b), 3.2, 6 and 8; In Part A of the Annex, section 1, points 2.2 to 2.4 and 2.8, section 5, and points 6.2.3 and 6.3; and in Part B of the Annex points 1.1 to 1.4, and sections 2 to 6; and Articles 3.3, 4, 5 and 10; and, in Part A of the Annex, points 2.6, 4.1 and 6.1. The Regulations, by regulation 6, also make other provision. Duties under the Regulations fall variously on the “owner” or “operator” of a “borehole site” or on employers; expressions are defined in regulation 2; and, by regulation 3, the Regulations apply to self-employed persons as they apply to employers. Regulation 4 requires an owner to furnish an operator with necessary information; requires an operator to exercise control of a borehole site and to co-ordinate measures to comply with requirements and prohibitions under the relevant statutory provisions; and imposes on an operator also a duty imposed by the Regulations on an employer. Regulation 5 requires employers of persons at work at a borehole site to co-operate with the operator. Regulation 6 provides for particulars specified in Schedule 1 to be notified to the Health and Safety Executive (“the Executive”) before or, as the case may be, after the commencement of certain specified activities; for the retention by the Executive of plans and other documents; and for the granting by the Executive of exemptions from requirements of this regulation. Regulation 7 prohibits the commencement of a borehole operation unless the operator ensures that a “health and safety document” has been prepared; specifies the matters which the document must contain; requires that the operator ensure that it be kept up to date; and requires employers to have regard to it. Regulation 8 requires the operator to ensure that workplaces on a borehole site are designed and built to a certain standard; and that there are adequate means of escape, and for communication and warning when escape or rescue is necessary. Regulation 9 places duties on employers of persons at work on a borehole site to ensure that the provisions in Schedule 2 are complied with. Regulation 10 requires employers to provide health surveillance. Regulation 11 provides for a special defence to an offence under the Regulations.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 0.85.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.85 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