E099:05 25 July 2005
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today signed an agreement with the National Trust and Swindon Borough Council to work together on health and safety at Trust premises. Senior managers from the three organisations met at the new Trust headquarters in Swindon to launch the agreement.
The agreement sets out the arrangements for a partnership between the National Trust and the two authorities that share responsibility for enforcement of health and safety for the Trust's premises and activities.
The agreement aims to promote consistency in health and safety enforcement amongst those local authorities and HSE regions that have responsibility for premises owned or occupied by the National Trust. It should also encourage the National Trust and its partner organisations to further develop health and safety standards in the heritage, conservation and visitor management sectors.
Phil Scott, Director of the HSE Local Authority Strategic Programme, said: "We're very pleased to be signing this first such tripartite health and safety agreement today. The agreement provides a framework for co-operation between the two enforcing authorities and should help them deliver their responsibilities more efficiently and effectively. It should also help the National Trust deal more effectively with the risks to visitors, volunteers and staff at its properties.
"The agreement is a practical example of HSE and local government's commitment to developing an effective partnership in how health and safety is enforced, to reduce work-related accidents and ill health."
1. Signatories to the agreement are as follows:
2. The National Trust cares for over 612,000 acres of countryside in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, almost 600 miles of coastline and more than 200 buildings and gardens. It employs nearly 8,000 full-time and seasonal staff, and has 38,000 volunteers.
3. The National Trust's activities span both HSE and local authority enforcement allocation and there are many areas of overlap, between, for example, the amenity and agricultural use of its estates, and the operation and maintenance of its properties.
4. The Health and Safety Commission's Strategy for Workplace Safety in Great Britain to 2010 and beyond , launched in February 2004, envisages a significant change in how the enforcing authorities (HSE and local authorities) work together. The aim is to make them collectively more effective in improving health and safety, reducing the incidence of injuries and ill health in the workplaces for which they are responsible. For more information on HSE's Local Authority Strategic Programme see www.hse.gov.uk/lau/strategic.htm
5. HSE is the enforcing authority in nuclear installations and mines, factories, farms, hospitals and schools, offshore gas and oil installations and railways. Local authorities are the principle enforcing authority in retailing, wholesale distribution, warehousing, hotel and catering premises, offices, and the consumer/leisure industries. However, HSE may also have some enforcement responsibilities at certain of these premises. A document showing enforcement allocation responsibilities is available on the HSE website.
All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the HSE Press Office
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