UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996

the instrument as a whole of The Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996.

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
14 June 1996
In force from
2 September 1996
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 requirements with respect to the health, safety and welfare of persons at work carrying out “construction work”, defined in regulation 2(1), and of others who may be affected by that work. The Regulations replace the Construction (General Provisions) Regulations 1961, the Construction (Health and Welfare) Regulations 1966 and the Construction (Working Places) Regulations 1966. The Regulations give effect as respects Great Britain to the following provisions of Council Directive 92/57/EEC (OJ No. L245, 26.8.92, p. 6) on the implementation of minimum safety and health requirements at temporary or mobile construction sites: Articles 8(a), (b) and (d), 9(a), and paragraph 1(a)(i) of Article 10 (in so far as it refers to Article 8(a), (b) and (d) and Annex IV); in part A of Annex IV, points 1.1, 1.2, sections 3 to 5, 7 to 12 and 14 to 18; in section II of part B of Annex IV, sections 1, 3 to 6, points 8.1(b) and (c), 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 (in part), 9.1(b) to (d) and sections 10 to 14. Specified regulations apply only in respect of construction work carried out on a “construction site”, defined in regulation 2(1), and where a workplace on a construction site is set aside for purposes other than construction work, the Regulations do not apply. Subject to specific exceptions, the Regulations impose requirements on— employers, the self-employed and others who control the way in which construction work is carried out; employees in respect of their own actions; and every person at work as regards co-operation with others and the reporting of danger. The Regulations impose requirements with respect to— the provision of safe places of work and safe access and egress thereto (regulation 5); the provision of suitable equipment to prevent falls (regulation 6); the working on or near fragile material (regulation 7); the prevention of injury from falling objects (regulation 8); the stability of structures (regulation 9); the carrying out and supervision of demolition and dismantling and the use of explosives (regulations 10 and 11); the safety of excavations, cofferdams and caissons (regulations 12 and 13); the prevention of drowning (regulation 14); the movement of pedestrian and vehicular traffic (regulation 15); the construction of doors, gates and hatches (regulation 16); the use of vehicles (regulation 17); the risks from fire, the provision of emergency routes and exits, the preparation and implementation of evacuation procedures and the provision of fire-fighting equipment, fire detectors and alarms (regulations 18 to 21); the provision of sanitary and washing facilities, a supply of drinking water, rest facilities and facilities to change and store clothing (regulation 22); the provision of adequate fresh air, reasonable temperature and weather protection (regulations 23 and 24); the provision of lighting (including emergency lighting) (regulation 25); the marking and good order of a construction site (regulation 26); the safety and maintenance of plant and equipment (regulation 27); training and supervision (regulation 28); the inspection of places of work and the preparation of reports (regulations 29 and 30). Regulation 31 provides for the granting of exemptions from the Regulations by the Health and Safety Executive. Regulation 32 extends the application of the Regulations to construction activities within territorial waters. Regulation 33 provides for specified provisions of the Regulations to be enforced in specified circumstances by fire authorities. Regulation 34 modifies the enactments referred to in Schedule 9, and regulation 35 revokes the enactments referred to in Schedule 10. A copy of the cost benefit assessment prepared in respect of these Regulations can be obtained from the Health and Safety Executive, Construction Policy Section, Safety Policy Directorate, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS. A copy has been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament.

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