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Site Navigation

How do I find my way around the site?

There are several methods for navigating around the site. You can use the search engine, the Site map, or the 'A to Z index'.

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Content of the Site

Why are there no guidance publications/legislation on your site?

Free leaflets can be found under the free leaflets section. Guidance and legislative publications are available on the HSE Books website.

What do you publish on your web site?

Items on the HSE website support the HSE's mission which is : 'to ensure that risks to people's health and safety from work activities are properly controlled'.

Work activities for which HSE has responsibility include : industrial manufacturing, agriculture, mining and quarrying, offshore oil and gas production and construction.

Guidance on how to avoid a variety of workplace risks in these and other workplaces is offered, as are national statistics on the numbers and types of incident resulting from the failure to adequately control workplace risks.

How often do you update the information on your site?

The HSE website is updated Monday to Friday, usually at the end of the working day. The 'What's new' section allows you to keep abreast of changes to the site.

Can you publicise one of my events?

The HSE website only publishes events organised by the HSE/C, or where HSE/C have significant involvement. See the events calendar for more information.

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Contacts

Can I link to your site, and use your logo?

We are happy for you to link to the HSE site, and appreciate your interest in the information provided. However, due to copyright issues we cannot allow the use of HSE's logo on your site.

Because the content of HSE publications is frequently revised in line with legislation and working practices, we recommend that you link to a main index page rather than an individual document. This will ensure that your customers are able to access current information.

The text of many HSE free publications can currently be accessed at the following address:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/index.htm

If you need any further input on the content of the pages please feel free to contact us.

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Technical Issues

Help with tables

Some of the tables used on this site are very large, here are a few tips to help you get the most from them.

Printing tables

When printing large tables ensure you have your paper source set to landscape. Some tables are extremely large and you may wish to incorporate them into a spreadsheet before printing (for example, you may wish to print at 70%).

Adding tables to spreadsheets

HTML tables can easily be incorporated into spreadsheet packages like Microsoft Excel, there are two simple ways to do this:

  1. select the table in your browser window and simply copy and paste into your spreadsheet; or
  2. save the web page containing the table, and then open using your favourite spreadsheet software.

If you have any other problems using these tables please call Infoline 0845 345 0055.

Does your web-site support accessibility for people with disabilities?

We aim to make the website accessible over a range of platforms and browser types. We regularly test pages against specific devices and with users who use assistive devices like screen readers. Further information about customising your browser, changing its settings and keyboard short cuts can be found on our accessibility section.

The text on your website is too small

To change the text size on your internet browser select 'View' from the top menu bar. Select 'text size' and then select a larger font size to suite you.

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PDF Files

How do I view PDF files?

You can download Acrobat Reader from the Adobe website.

If you already have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, your internet browser should launch the Acrobat plug-in automatically. If you have saved the PDF file to your hard-drive you can double-click on the file to invoke the Acrobat viewer.

I have got Adobe Acrobat Reader installed and I still cannot view a PDF file

On occasion difficulties can be experienced viewing a PDF file, these problems can range from a blank white screen in the browser window to a frozen computer. To overcome this problem you can download the file to your computer and view it. To do this you must position your mouse pointer over the link which takes you to the PDF file and right click the mouse button. Select 'save target as', then specify where you want to save the file on your computer and the file will download. You should then be able to open the file with Acrobat Reader without any difficulty.

Why does it take so long to download some PDF files?

Some of the PDF files on the HSE site have large file sizes. These files can take several minutes to download, even using a fast internet connection. Most of the PDF files on the site have file sizes quoted. You should consider the likely download times before choosing to download these files.

Download times for various file sizes are shown in the table below. The times quoted are ideal download times, usually only attainable at off-peak times. They do not account for poor telephone connections, heavy internet traffic or internet server overload.

Optimal download speeds by file size (in seconds)
  File size
Connection speed 250KB 500KB 1MB 2MB
56Kbps 0:45 1:30 3:00 6:00
500Kps 0:05 0:10 0:20 0:40
1MB 0:03 0:05 0:10 0:20