UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998

the instrument as a whole of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

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 September 1998
In force from
5 December 1998
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 and safety requirements with respect to the provision and use of work equipment, which is defined in regulation 2(1). The Regulations revoke and re-enact the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 (“the 1992 Regulations”), which gave effect as respects Great Britain, except in relation to certain matters, to Council Directive 89/655/EEC (OJ No. L393, 30.12.89, p.13) on the minimum health and safety requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work (“the Directive”). In addition to minor and drafting changes these Regulations contain new provision giving effect as respects Great Britain to the provisions of the Directive identified below and inserted in it by the amending Council Directive 95/63/EC (OJ No. L335, 30.12.95, p.28). Save in the case of regulation 34 (reports) these Regulations, as the 1992 Regulations, place duties on employers. They also place those duties (not required by the Directive) on others, who now include (regulation 3(3) to (5)) certain persons having control of work equipment, of persons at work who use or supervise or manage its use or of the way it is used, to the extent of their control. These Regulations, as the 1992 Regulations, have limited application to ships. The way in which they so apply is revised (regulation 3(6) to (11)). The Regulations (giving effect to the replaced last paragraph of point 2.1 of Annex I to the Directive) require that control systems of work equipment are chosen making due allowance for the failures, faults and constraints to be expected in the planned circumstances of use (regulation 19(1)(b)). The Regulations, in giving effect to Article 4a of the Directive, require— the inspection of work equipment in specified circumstances by a competent person (regulation 6(1) and (2)); the recording and keeping of the result (regulation 6(3)); and that evidence of the last inspection accompany work equipment used outside the undertaking (regulation 6(4)). Work equipment subject to equivalent provision is excepted (regulation 6(5). “Inspection” is defined in regulation 2(1). The Regulations give effect to point 3.1 of Annex I to the Directive in making provision in relation to mobile work equipment for— its suitability for carrying persons and its safety features (regulation 25); means to minimise the risk to safety from its rolling over (regulation 26); means to reduce the risk to safety from the rolling over of a fork-lift truck (regulation 27); the safety of self-propelled work equipment (regulation 28) and remote-controlled self propelled work equipment (regulation 29); and the drive shafts of mobile work equipment (regulation 30), and as permitted by Article 4.1(c) of the Directive give relief until 5th December 2002 for existing mobile work equipment. Regulations 32 to 36 and Schedules 2 and 3 re-enact with modifications the Power Presses Regulations 1965/1441 (“the 1965 Regulations”). In so doing they include provision giving effect, as regards power presses, to Article 4a of the Directive. Certain power presses, excluded by the 1965 Regulations or exempted under them, are excluded (regulation 31 and Schedule 2). The Regulations provide for— the thorough examination (defined in regulation 2(1)) of power presses and their guards and protection devices (regulation 32); their inspection after setting, re-setting or adjustment of their tools, and every working period (regulation 33); and the making (regulation 34 and Schedule 3) and keeping (regulation 35) of reports. The Regulations repeal section 19 of the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 (regulation 38) and revoke provisions of instruments (regulation 39 and Schedule 4). Copies of the cost benefit assessment prepared in respect of these Regulations other than regulations 31 to 35 (power presses), of that prepared in respect of regulations 3 to 35, and of that prepared in respect of woodworking machines, may be obtained from the Economic Adviser’s Unit, the Health and Safety Executive, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS.

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