The Health and Safety Executive

The UK Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are responsible for the regulation of almost all the risks to health and safety arising from work activity in Britain.

Their mission is to protect people's health and safety by ensuring risks in the changing workplace are properly controlled.

They look after health and safety in nuclear installations and mines, factories, farms, hospitals and schools, offshore gas and oil installations, the safety of the gas grid and the movement of dangerous goods and substances, railway safety, and many other aspects of the protection both of workers and the public. Local authorities are responsible to HSC for enforcement in offices, shops and other parts of the services sector.

In the enforcement area and Asbestos, HSE operates a rigorous regulatory and licensing scheme to control the risks of asbestos activities. Their main effort during 2002/03 is to proactively look at asbestos licence holders undertaking removal and repair work. This includes targeting certain notifiable asbestos jobs sent to us by licence holders and carrying out ad-hoc site inspections. They work closely with the industry to ensure that work involving asbestos is carried out in accordance with strict health and safety standards detailed in specific asbestos-related regulations and other general health and safety laws. For more information on the HSE click here.