UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc.) Regulations 1996

the instrument as a whole of The Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc.) 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc.) 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
25 March 1996
In force from
30 June 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 contain requirements for ensuring that offshore oil and gas installations, and oil and gas wells are designed, constructed and kept in a sound structural state, and other requirements affecting them, for purposes of health and safety. The Regulations give effect, in relation to offshore installations in territorial waters adjacent to Great Britain, or in the United Kingdom sector of the continental shelf, 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 (“the Directive”)— Article 3.1(a) (in combination with other provision); in Part A of the Annex, parts 1, 2.1.1 (in combination with other provision), 2.1.2, 4.1 and 6.2.1 (both in combination with other provision), 8 to 13 (other than 11.5 and 13.7), 14.1 (in combination with other provision), 14.2 to 14.5, 15.1, and 16 to 20 (regulation 12 and paragraphs of Schedule1), and part 6.2.3 (the additions made to Schedules 2 and 3 of the Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations 1992/2885 (“the 1992 Regulations”) by paragraphs 12 and 13 of Schedule 2, in combination with existing provisions of those Schedules); in Part C of the Annex parts 8, 10 (save the first and third indent of 10.1) (regulation 12 and paragraphs of Schedule 1), 11.1 (regulation 11) and 12.2 (regulation 6). The Regulations also give effect, in combination with other provision, to part 5 of Part A of the Annex to the Directive (regulation 17). Interpretation and application are dealt with in Part I (regulations 2 and 3). Part II is concerned with integrity of installations and the provisions in it impose duties on the “duty holder” for an installation (defined in regulation 2(1)) relating to— the maintenance of its integrity at all times (regulation 4); its design (regulation 5); work to it (regulation 6); the way it is operated (regulation 7); arrangements for maintaining its integrity (regulation 8); the reporting of danger to it (regulation 9); and decommissioning and dismantlement (regulation 10). Part III contains requirements relating to the helicopter landing area of an offshore installation (regulation 11) and requirements relating to its layout and facilities (regulation 12 and Schedule 1). The regulations in Part IV impose requirements affecting oil and gas wells, in the case of regulations 13 to 19 on the “well-operator” (defined in regulation 2(1)) relating to— the general reduction of risk (regulation 13); assessment of conditions below ground (regulation 14); design and construction (regulation 15); the materials used (regulation 16); well control equipment (regulation 17); arrangements for examination of the well, and information relating to it (regulation 18); the provision of information to the Health and Safety Executive (“the Executive”) (regulation 19); co-operation with the well-operator (regulation 20); and information, instruction, training and supervision. The regulations in Part V— provide a defence for contravention of regulation 5 or 6 (regulation 22); provide for the issue of certificates of exemption by the Executive (regulation 23); contain transitional provision (regulation 24); repeal section 3 of the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971 (regulation 25); amend the 1992 Regulations (regulation 26 and Schedule 2) (apart from minor and drafting amendments)— by adding requirements for a verification scheme for safety-critical elements of an offshore installation; by providing a defence for breach of those requirements; by adding requirements for notification of information to the Executive regarding well operations from a vessel; by adding requirements that certain offshore installation safety cases describe arrangements for protection of people from toxic gas; and revoke specified instruments (regulation 27 and Schedule 3). A copy of the compliance cost assessment prepared in respect of these Regulations can be obtained from the Health and Safety Executive, Strategy and General Division, Economic Advisers Unit (1), South Wing, Eighth Floor, 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

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 0.70.

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