What is health and safety all about?
Preventing people from being harmed by work or becoming ill by taking the right precautions - and providing a satisfactory working environment.

Why are there health and safety laws?
Because health and safety at work is so important, there are rules which require all of us not to put ourselves or others in danger. The law is also there to protect the public from workplace dangers.

Do health and safety laws apply to me?
Yes. To all businesses, however small; also to the self employed and to employees.

Who enforces health and safety law?
Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or your local authority.
For example:

• HSE at factories, farms and building sites;
• local authorities in offices, shops, hotels and catering, and leisure activities.

What do inspectors actually do?
They visit workplaces to check that people are sticking to the rules. They investigate some accidents and complaints but mainly they help you to understand what you need to do. They enforce only when something is seriously wrong.

Links and information:
The information on this site was taken from HSE website www.hse.gov.uk

HSE operates a confidential telephone information service called Infoline which is open Monday-Friday between 8am and 6pm.

You can contact Infoline by telephone 0845 345 0055 or fax 0845 408 9566,
or e-mail hse.infoline@natbrit.com.

Alternatively you can write to
HSE Information Services,
Caerphilly Business Park,
Caerphilly CF83 3GG.

Download these free leaflets:
  Health & Safety Regulations
  Health & Safety Law
  Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974