UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999

the instrument as a whole of The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999 (revoked)

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999.

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
20 February 1999
In force from
25 March 1999
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 re-enact, with minor modifications, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/3246) (“the 1994 Regulations”) as amended. The 1994 Regulations imposed duties on employers to protect employees and other persons who may be exposed to substances hazardous to health and also imposed certain duties on employees concerning their own protection from such exposure, and prohibited the import into the United Kingdom of certain substances and articles from outside the European Economic Area (regulations 1 to 17 and Schedules 1 to 8). The Regulations— are consistent with the provisions of— Council Directive 80/1107/EEC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to chemical, physical and biological agents at work (OJ No. L 237, 3.12.80, p.8), Commission Directive 91/322/EEC (OJ No. L 177, 5.7.91, p.22) on establishing indicative limit values by implementing Council Directive 80/1107/EEC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to chemical, physical and biological agents at work, Commission Directive 96/94/EC (OJ No. L 338, 28.12.96, p.86) establishing a second list of indicative limit values by implementing Council Directive 80/1107/EEC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to chemical, physical and biological agents at work; implement as respects Great Britain— Council Directive 78/610/EEC (OJ No. L 197, 22.7.78, p.12) on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States on the protection of the health of workers exposed to vinyl chloride monomer, Council Directive 88/364/EEC (OJ No. L 179, 9.7.1988, p.44) on the protection of workers by the banning of certain specified agents and/or certain work activities (fourth individual directive within the meaning of Article 8 of Directive 80/1107/EEC), point 3 of Article 1 of Council Directive 89/677/EEC (OJ No. L 398, 30.12.89, p.19) amending for the 8th time the Marketing and Use Directive in so far as that point relates to the importation, supply or use of benzene and substances containing benzene for such purposes, Council Directive 90/394/EEC (OJ No. L 196, 26.7.90, p.38) on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work (sixth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) insofar as it relates to carcinogens other than asbestos, Council Directive 90/679/EEC on the protection of workers from risks related to exposure to biological agents at work (OJ No. L 374, 31.12.90, p.1), and that part of Commission Directive 96/55/EC (OJ No. L 231, 12.9.96, p.20) adapting to technical progress for the 2nd time Annex I to Council Directive 76/769/EEC (“the Marketing and Use Directive”) (OJ No. L 262, 27.9.76, p.201) on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to restriction on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations which relates to supply of specified substances for use at work. In addition to minor and drafting amendments, the Regulations make the following changes of substance— provide for the approval by the Health and Safety Commission of maximum exposure limits for substances in place of the provisions previously contained in Schedule 1 of the 1994 Regulations (regulation 2(1)); include certain further definitions (regulation 2(1)); require personal protective equipment provided by an employer in pursuance of these Regulations to comply with the Personal Protective Equipment (EC Directive) Regulations (regulation 7(5)); and revoke those Regulations mentioned in paragraph (1) of regulation 18 and make consequential amendments to the provisions mentioned in paragraphs (2) and (3) of that regulation (regulation 18). Copies of the publications mentioned in the Regulations are obtainable as follows— a list of the maximum exposure limits and occupational exposure standards which the Health and Safety Commission has approved is available in the publication “EH40, Occupational Exposure Limits” obtainable from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 6FS; and the British Standards referred to in Part II of Schedule 3 (relating to safety cabinets) are obtainable from (by personal callers only) the British Standards Institution, 2 Park Street, London W1A 2BS or (by post) from the British Standards Institution, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes, MK14 6LE. A copy of the cost benefit assessment prepared in respect of these Regulations can be obtained from the Health and Safety Executive, Economic Advisers Unit, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS. Copies have 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