UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Control of Electromagnetic Fields at Work Regulations 2016

the instrument as a whole of The Control of Electromagnetic Fields at Work Regulations 2016

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Electromagnetic Fields at Work Regulations 2016.

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
17 May 2016
In force from
1 July 2016
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 implement, as respects Great Britain, Directive 2013/35/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No L 179, 29.6.2013, p1–21) on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields) (20th individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) and repealing Directive 2004/40/EC. These Regulations apply in Great Britain, and outside Great Britain to the extent provided by regulation 14. Part 2 sets out the main duties placed on employers under the Regulations. Part 3 sets out supplementary duties and gives the Health and Safety Executive (“the Executive”) limited powers to exempt employers from specific duties. The Schedule provides more specific details on how employers are to comply with their duties. The main duties and provisions in Parts 2 and 3 of these Regulations are as follows— a all employers must ensure that, except in circumstances prescribed by the Regulations or where permitted under an exemption issued by the Executive, employees are not exposed to electromagnetic field levels in excess of prescribed exposure limits (regulation 4(1)). These limits are contained in Part 2 of the Schedule; b all employers must assess the levels of electromagnetic fields to which their employees may be exposed (regulation 5(1)); c all employers must, except in the circumstances prescribed by regulation 6— i make and implement an action plan to reduce exposure levels (regulation 7(1)); and ii assess the risks posed to employees by their exposure to electromagnetic fields (regulation 8(1)); d where employers are required to assess the risks of exposure to electromagnetic fields, they must— i ensure that any risks identified in that assessment are eliminated or reduced to a minimum (regulation 9(1)); and ii provide information and training to employees likely to be subjected to the risks identified in that assessment (regulation 10); e all employers must, in the circumstances prescribed by regulation 11(1), ensure that health surveillance and medical examinations are provided as appropriate; f the Executive may exempt employers from having to comply with the exposure limits in respect of one or more work activities (regulation 13(1)). An exemption must be limited in time and subject to prescribed safety conditions. A full impact assessment of the effect that these Regulations will have on the costs of business has been prepared and can be obtained from the Health and Safety Executive, Economic Advisers Unit, Redgrave Court, Merton Road, Bootle, Merseyside L20 7HS. The transposition note in relation to the implementation of the Directive can be obtained at the same address. Copies of both these documents have been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament and are annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum, which is available alongside these Regulations at www.legislation.gov.uk.

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 0.67.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.67 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