Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008

The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 (c 20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

According to the explanatory notes to the Act,^[3] the precursors of this Act were:

• A joint review of the maximum penalties for health and safety offences carried out between February and September 1999 by the Home Office, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, and the Health and Safety Executive;
• The report Reducing administrative burdens: effective inspection and enforcement by Philip Hampton;^[4]
• The report Regulating Justice: Making Sanctions Effective by Richard B Macrory.^[5]

Section 1 - Health and safety offences: mode of trial and maximum penalty

Section 1(1) substituted new sections 33(2) and (3) for the existing sections 33(1A) to (4) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

Section 1(2), with Schedule 1, inserted Schedule 3A of that Act.

Section 1(3) substituted new paragraphs 31(2) and (3) for the existing paragraphs 31(1A) to (5) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1039 (N.I. 9))

Section 1(4), with Schedule 2, inserted Schedule 3A of that Order.

Section 2 - Consequential amendments and repeals

Section 2(1) provides that Schedules 3 and 4 have effect.

Section 3 - Short title, commencement and extent

Section 3(2) provides that the Act came into force at the end of the period of three months that began on the date on which it was passed. The word "months" means calendar months.^[6] The day (that is to say, 16 October 2008) on which the Act was passed (that is to say, received royal assent) is included in the period of three months.^[7] This means that the Act came into force on 16 January 2009.

Section 3(3) provides that the Act does not apply to offences committed before that date.

References

• Halsbury's Statutes,

External links

• The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008, as amended from the National Archives.
• The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008, as originally enacted from the National Archives.
• Explanatory notes to the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008.