Crown employers, which include Government Departments, Next Steps Executive Agencies and some other Organisations sponsored by Departments, are bound by the provisions of Part 1 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, except sections 21 to 25 and 33 to 42. This is set out in section 48 of the Act.

The non-application of section 33 precludes prosecution of Crown employers under the Act [commonly referred to as Crown Immunity]. Crown censure is an administrative procedure, whereby HSE may summon a Crown employer to be censured for a breach of the Act or a subordinate regulation which, but for Crown Immunity, would have led to prosecution with a realistic prospect of conviction.