Application of health and safety legislation to the MOD

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) and the subordinate regulations apply to MOD, its agencies and the armed forces within the baseline of Great Britain (HSWA S48 refers). Although the majority of regulations made under HSW Act provide for the Secretary of State for Defence to claim exemption on behalf of the armed forces, in the interests of national security, in practice this is rarely exercised. Certain regulations also contain disapplications specific to MOD. MOD must argue the need for these in the same way as any other sector or industry and does not receive them automatically.

The MOD, as a Government Department, enjoys Crown privilege. This means that whilst the HSW Act and Regulations apply to the MOD, and the MOD must comply with them, the MOD is not subject to criminal enforcement action in the courts. This is know as “Crown immunity”. Instead of criminal enforcement action, administrative arrangements exist to mirror them; Crown Notices instead of normal Improvement and Prohibition Notices, and Crown censure instead of prosecution. Details of these procedures can be found in Cabinet Office Personnel Information Note 45 (PIN45). This can be found in an HSE Sector Information Minute, SIM 07/2001/34 [PDF 44kb] , available under HSE’s FOI Publication Scheme.