Industries and sectors

• Chemical Manufacture & Storage
• Gas Storage & Transportation
• Offshore Oil & Gas Extraction
• Pipelines
• Mining
• Diving
• Explosives
• Biological Agents

Other high hazard industries such as Railways or Nuclear Installations are regulated by specific HSE Directorates. HSE’s Policy Group is responsible for the formulation of policy and legislation in relation to all of these industries.

Who we are

HID Consists of three divisions.

Division

Responsibility

Offshore Division

Controls risks to the health and safety of workers and the public from the activities of the Diving and Offshore Oil/Gas Industries (including drilling, well control, marine and aviation activities)

Specialised Industries Division

Controls risks to the health and safety of workers and the public from hazardous micro-organisms and the activities of the Gas Storage / Transportation, Mining and Explosives Industries.

Chemical Industries  Division

Control risks to the health and safety of workers and the public from the activities of the Chemical Manufacture/Storage industry.

The Management Board consists of the Director and the heads of Divisions

What we do

Our work is made up of the following activities: -

• Inspection of operations
• Investigation of accidents and incidents
• Enforcement of statutory requirements
• Provision of advice on the nature of risks, their assessment and management
• Working with partners to identify, define, document and promote good practice in the assessment / management of major hazards (inc. research & standards development)

Because our work is major hazard based it is driven by permissioning/licensing statutory duties. At the core of the legislative framework is: -

• The Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations 1992 – for Offshore safety
• The Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1999 (COMAH) – for Onshore safety
• The Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 - conveyance of natural gas through pipelines to domestic and other consumers

In order to reduce the likelihood of major hazard accidents and mitigate their consequences, HID offers advice to Local Authorities on Land Use Planning. The aim is to ensure that the location of major hazard installations and the development of land around them is as safe as possible.

Plans and priorities

HID's Delivery Plan and HID's Operating Plan give details of the Directorate's main priorities and key programmes and outlines how these will contribute towards the achievement of HSC/E's strategic plan.

Who to Contact

HSE offices are organised into regions. These are open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. In the first instance all enquiries should be directed through the HSE infoline.

HSE is not an emergency service and is not routinely able to respond outside normal working hours. We recognise that the situations may occur that demand a prompt response from HSE for these there is a duty officer on call.