Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978

Health and safety regulationsN.I.

17 .F1—F2F3(1) Subject to Article 46, regulations (in this Order referred to as “health and safety regulations”) may provide for any of the general purposes of this Part.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), health and safety regulations may for any of the general purposes of this Part make provision for any of the purposes mentioned in Schedule 3.

(3) Health and safety regulations—

(a)may repeal or modify any of the existing statutory provisions;

(b)may exclude or modify in relation to any specified class of case any of the provisions of Articles 4 to 10 or any of the existing statutory provisions;

(c)may make a specified authority or class of authorities responsible, to such extent as may be specified, for the enforcement of any of the relevant statutory provisions.

(4) Health and safety regulations—

(a)may impose requirements by reference to the approval of the[F4 Executive] or any other specified body or person;

(b)may provide for references in the regulations to any specified document to operate as references to that document as revised or re-issued from time to time.

(5) Health and safety regulations—

(a)may provide (either unconditionally or subject to conditions, and with or without limit of time) for exemptions from any requirement or prohibition imposed by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions;

(b)may enable exemptions from any requirement or prohibition imposed by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions to be granted (either unconditionally or subject to conditions, and with or without limit of time) by any specified person or by any person authorised in that behalf by a specified authority.

(6) Health and safety regulations—

(a)may specify the persons who, in the event of a contravention of a requirement or prohibition imposed by or under the regulations, are to be guilty of an offence, whether in addition to or to the exclusion of other persons;

(b)may provide for any specified defence to be available in proceedings for any offence under the relevant statutory provisions either generally or in specified circumstances;

(c)may exclude proceedings on indictment in relation to offences consisting of a contravention of a requirement or prohibition imposed by or under any of the existing statutory provisions, Articles 4 to 10 or health and safety regulations;

(d)may restrict the punishments (other than the maximum fine on conviction on indictment) which can be imposed in respect of any such offence as is mentioned in sub-paragraph ( c).

(e)F5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(7) Without prejudice to Article 33, health and safety regulations may make provision for enabling offences under any of the relevant statutory provisions to be treated as having been committed at any specified place for the purpose of bringing any such offence within the field of responsibility of any enforcing authority or conferring jurisdiction on any court to entertain proceedings for any such offence.

(8) In this Article “specified” means specified in health and safety regulations.