Duty holder

For the Commission the solution was to propose the new regulatory strategy announced in its White Paper. Prominent amongst the principle elements of the new approach encapsulated in REACH is the aim to achieve realignment of the responsibilities of duty-holders for ensuring the safe use of chemical substances in... 

Enforcement powers. Compliance with OELs is a legal requirement under the COSHH Regulations. Under the HSW Act 1974 HSE inspectors have powers to issue two types of enforcement notice - an improvement notice or a prohibition notice - as well as powers to prosecute for criminal offences in the courts. Improvement notices are nomally used to instruct duty holders to remedy a situation in which an inspector believes that there has been a breach of the law resulting in a risk to the health or safety of persons that the law is intended to protect. The duty-holder is normally requir to remedy tiie situation within a specified time period in accordance wath the requirements laid out in the notice. Prohibition notices are normally issued where inspectors fell there is m imminent and serious risk to health and safety. They have the effect of prohibiting... 

An additional factor in the decline of improvement notices in the mid-1990s was the introduction of requirements on inspectors to issue a notice of intent before an improvement notice was issued. This may have had the effect of obviating the need to issue an improvement notice in some cases since duty-holders would have made the necessary improvements under the notice of intent. This requirement was removed in 1997. 

During a preparatory phase in transposition the principles of these articles were apparently nmdvertently dropped. They have however subsequently been effectively reinstated with requirements on duty holders to maintain previous levels of prevention practice in relation to chemical risks. 

The background outhned in the previous sections, provide an indication of the overall approach to regulating the achiev ent of better health and safety managem and a clue to the likely role of OELs in this process. It ows that currently the enqihasis in compliance strategies is with the achievement of systematic approaches to ri management by duty holders. Within this broad aim, there is a particular fbem on certain issues for which improved outcomes are identified. Although not a priority issue... 

The ICP should be the focal point and responsible for carrying out the verification activities detailed in the verification scheme. The operator or the duty holder is responsible to ensure that the ICP is provided with all access necessary information and access to carry out the verification activities. 

At the heart of the safety case approach lies an understanding that is the operator of a facility—not the regulator—who decides how to ensure safe operations. This nonprescriptive approach to the management of safety is similar to the manner in which most PSM programs are prepared and administered. The operator of the facility, known as the duty holder, develops a safety system that is pertinent to that particular facility. The duty holder s performance is then assessed against his or her own standard. 

The use of external specialist resources to assist in the preparation of the safety case is commonplace. The duty holder should, however, be involved in all facets of the preparation of the safety case. 

As regards the enforcement of the regulations by the HSE, it is clear that insofar as so much detail is now produced by the duty holder rather than the regulator, it is not so much in the position of holding the regulated to standards that it has set, but rather of holding them to the procedures and arrangements described in the current safety case which may affect health or safety ."... 

Duty holders must prepare and submit a safety case to HSE for assessment and acceptance, before an offshore installation can operate in the UK sector. 

Primarily goal-setting legislation which sets required standards and objectives to be achieved by duty holders for the continued safe operation of their installations. 

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