Health and Safety Commission

Health and Safety Commission (HSC) was a United Kingdom non-departmental public body, responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland. The HSC was formally established on 31 July 1974.

History

The HSC was created by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSW Act), alongside its partner body, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which it could direct and which enforced the Act and regulations made under it. The HSC was sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Functions

The main goal of the HSC was to ensure that risks to people's health and safety from work activities were properly controlled. The HSC and the HSE shared the same goal, to protect people against risks to health or safety arising out of work activities.

Structure

The HSC consisted of a chairman and between six and nine other members, appointed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, after consultation. The first chairman of the HSC was Bill Simpson, appointed in 1974.

Merger

On 1 April 2008, the HSC merged with the HSE to form a single regulatory body, which retained the name of the Health and Safety Executive. The merger was part of the government's wider reform of the health and safety system in the UK.

See also

• Occupational safety and health
• Workplace health surveillance
• Health and Safety Executive

External links

• Official website

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