Office of Public Sector Information
No employer shall charge, or permit the charging of, any employee of the employer in respect of anything done or provided in pursuance of any of the Chapter 1 duties.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), nothing in this Part shall be construed as conferring a right of action in any civil proceedings (other than proceedings for recovery of a fine).
(2) Breach of a duty imposed on an employer by virtue of this Part shall, in so far as it causes damage to an employee, confer a right of action on that employee in civil proceedings.
(1) Except as respects its application in relation to the aspects of fire safety set out in paragraph (b) of the sentence on interpretation in Section H2 of Part II of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) (reserved matters), Part I of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37) (“the 1974 Act”) and any regulations and orders made under it shall not apply in relation to fire safety.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) affects the operation of Part I of the 1974 Act or any such regulations or orders where an enforcing authority is also, for the purposes of that Part or, as the case may be, the regulations or order, an enforcing authority (as defined in section 18(7)(a) of the 1974 Act).
(1) This section applies where—
(a) an enactment provides for the licensing of—
(i) premises; or
(ii) a person in respect of premises;
(b) the authority responsible for issuing licences under such an enactment (the “licensing authority”) is required or authorised to impose terms, conditions or restrictions in connection with the issue of such licences; and
(c) such a licence is required in respect of relevant premises.
(2) A term, condition or restriction imposed in connection with the issue under such an enactment of the licence shall be of no effect in so far as it relates to any matter in relation to which requirements or prohibitions are or could be imposed by virtue of this Part.
(3) References in this section to the issue of licences include references to their renewal, transfer or variation.
(4) References in this section to licensing include references to certifying and registering; and “licence” shall be construed accordingly.
(5) This section does not apply where the licensing authority is also (other than by virtue of paragraph (c) of subsection (9) of section 61) the enforcing authority.
(1) If—
(a) a person fails to carry out a duty to which the person is subject by virtue of—
(i) section 53;
(ii) section 54; or
(iii) section 55; and
(b) the failure to carry out the duty in question puts a relevant person at risk of death, or serious injury, in the event of fire,
the person shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) If—
(a) an employee fails to carry out a duty to which the employee is subject by virtue of section 56; and
(b) the failure to carry out the duty in question puts a relevant person at risk of death, or serious injury, in the event of fire,
the employee shall be guilty of an offence.
(3) If—
(a) a person fails to comply with a requirement or prohibition to which the person is subject by virtue of regulations made under section 57 or 58; and
(b) the failure to comply with the requirement or prohibition in question puts a relevant person at risk of death, or serious injury, in the event of fire,
the person shall be guilty of an offence.
(4) It shall be an offence for a person—
(a) to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a requirement imposed by an enforcement officer under section 62(2)(c);
(b) falsely to pretend to be an enforcement officer;
(c) intentionally to obstruct an enforcement officer in the carrying out of the officer’s functions under this Part;
(d) intentionally to obstruct a person taken by virtue of section 62(2)(b) onto relevant premises;
(e) to fail to comply with a restriction or prohibition imposed by a prohibition notice;
(f) to fail to comply with a requirement imposed by—
(i) an enforcement notice; or
(ii) an alterations notice;
(g) to contravene section 68;
(h) to make in any register, book, notice or other document required by virtue of this Part to be kept, served or given an entry which the person knows to be false in a material particular;
(i) to give any information which the person knows to be false in a material particular, or recklessly to give any information which is false in a material particular, where the information is given in purported compliance with a requirement to give information imposed by virtue of this Part.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1), (3) or (4)(e) or (f) shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £20,000;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine or to both.
(6) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.
(7) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4)(a), (c), (d), (g), (h) or (i) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(8) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4)(b) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(9) Subject to subsection (10), it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that the person took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.
(10) Subsection (9) shall not apply in relation to—
(a) an offence under subsection (1) in respect of a failure to comply with the duty mentioned in paragraph (a)(i) of that subsection;
(b) an offence under subsection (3) in respect of a failure to comply so far as is reasonably practicable with a requirement or, as the case may be, a prohibition.
(11) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) in respect of a failure to comply with the duty mentioned in paragraph (a)(i) of that subsection, the onus of showing that it was not reasonably practicable to do more than was done shall be on the accused.
(12) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (3) in respect of a failure to comply so far as is practicable with a requirement or, as the case may be, a prohibition, the onus of showing that it was not practicable to do more than was done shall be on the accused.
(13) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (3) in respect of a failure to comply so far as is reasonably practicable with a requirement or, as the case may be, a prohibition, the onus of showing that it was not reasonably practicable to do more than was done shall be on the accused.
(1) Where an offence under this Part committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a relevant person, the relevant person as well as the body corporate is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if the member were a relevant person.
(3) Where an offence under this Part committed by a partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a partner, the partner as well as the partnership is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(4) In this section, “relevant person”, in relation to a body corporate, means a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body, or a person purporting to act in any such capacity.
(1) Where the commission by any person (“A”) of an offence under this Part is due to the act or default of some other person (“B”), B shall be guilty of the offence.
(2) B may be charged with and convicted of an offence by virtue of subsection (1) whether or not proceedings are taken against A.
Nothing in this Part shall be construed as affording an employer a defence in any proceedings in pursuance of section 72 or 73 by reason only of any act or omission of––
(a) an employee of the employer; or
(b) a person of a description specified in regulations made by the Scottish Ministers on whom duties are imposed by virtue of section 58(1).
(1) Any document required or authorised by virtue of this Part to be served on any person may be served—
(a) by delivering it to the person or by leaving it at the person’s proper address or by sending it by post to the person at that address;
(b) if the person is a body corporate other than a limited liability partnership, by serving it in accordance with paragraph (a) on the secretary or clerk of the body;
(c) if the person is a limited liability partnership, by serving it in accordance with paragraph (a) on a member of the partnership; or
(d) if the person is a partnership, by serving it in accordance with paragraph (a) on a partner or a person having the control or management of the partnership business.
(2) For the purposes of this section and paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Scotland Act 1998 (Transitory and Transitional Provisions) (Publication and Interpretation etc. of Acts of the Scottish Parliament) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1379) (service of documents by post) (“the Order”) in its application to this section, the proper address of any person on whom a document is to be served shall be the person’s last known address, except that—
(a) in the case of service on a body corporate (other than a limited liability partnership), its secretary or clerk, it shall be the address of the registered or principal office of the body;
(b) in the case of service on a limited liability partnership or a member of the partnership, it shall be the address of the registered or principal office of the partnership;
(c) in the case of service on a partnership or a partner or a person having the control or management of a partnership business, it shall be the address of the principal office of the partnership.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) the principal office of a company constituted under the law of a country or territory outwith the United Kingdom or of a partnership carrying on business outwith the United Kingdom is its principal office within the United Kingdom.
(4) Subsection (5) applies if a person who is to be served by virtue of this Part with any document by another has specified to that other an address within the United Kingdom other than the person’s proper address (as determined under subsection (2)) as the one at which the person or someone on the person’s behalf will accept documents of the same description as that document.
(5) In relation to that document, that address shall be treated as the person’s proper address for the purposes of this section and paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Order in its application to this section, instead of that determined under subsection (2).
(6) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations make provision for or in connection with specifying procedures which must, or may, be followed when serving documents required or authorised by virtue of this Part to be served on any person.
(1) The provisions of this Part, and of regulations made under it, shall bind the Crown.
(2) No contravention by the Crown of any provision of this Act or of any regulations made under it shall make the Crown criminally liable; but the Court of Session may, on the application of an enforcing authority, declare unlawful any act or omission of the Crown which constitutes such a contravention.
(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), the provisions of this Part and of regulations made under it shall apply to persons in the public service of the Crown as they apply to other persons.
(4) Nothing in this Part authorises the entry of any relevant premises occupied by the Crown.
(5) Nothing in this section affects Her Majesty in Her private capacity.
(6) This Part shall apply in relation to relevant premises owned or occupied by the Parliamentary corporation as it applies in relation to relevant premises owned or occupied by the Crown.
(1) In this Part, “relevant premises” means any premises other than those mentioned in subsection (2).
(2) Those premises are—
(a) domestic premises;
(b) construction sites, ships and hovercraft, mines and offshore installations;
(c) premises which, on 1 July 1999, were of a description specified in Part I of Schedule 1 to the Fire Certificates (Special Premises) Regulations 1976 (S.I. 1976/2003);
(d) borehole sites to which the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/2038) apply;
(e) premises occupied solely for the purposes of the armed forces of the Crown;
(f) premises occupied solely by any visiting force or an international headquarters or defence organisation designated for the purposes of the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations Act 1964 (c. 5);
(g) premises which are situated within premises occupied solely for the purposes of the armed forces of the Crown but which are not themselves so occupied;
(h) if the undertaking carried on in premises is agriculture or forestry, any land other than buildings which is situated away from the undertaking’s buildings.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1), “premises” includes in particular—
(a) any place;
(b) any installation on land;
(c) any tent or movable structure; and
(d) vehicles other than those mentioned in subsection (6).
(4) In paragraph (a) of subsection (2), “domestic premises” means premises occupied as a private dwelling (including a stair, passage, garden, yard, garage, outhouse or other appurtenance of such premises which is used in common by the occupants of more than one such dwelling); but does not include premises such as are mentioned in subsection (5).
(5) Those premises are—
(a) a house as respects which the giving of permission to occupy it is an activity for which a licence under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 2000 (S.S.I. 2000/177) is required;
(b) premises used for the provision of a care home service (as defined in subsection (3) of section 2 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (asp 8));
(c) premises used for the provision of a school care accommodation service (as defined in subsection (4) of that section);
(d) premises used for the provision of an independent health care service (as defined in subsection (5) of that section);
(e) premises used for the provision of a secure accommodation service (as defined in subsection (9) of that section);
(f) premises which would fall within paragraph (a) but for there being in force in respect of them a control order under section 178 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (c. 26); and
(g) premises which would fall within paragraph (a) but for there being in force in respect of them a management control order granted by virtue of section 74 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 8).
(6) The vehicles referred to in subsection (3)(d) are—
(a) any aircraft, locomotive, rolling stock, trailer or semi-trailer used as a means of transport;
(b) any vehicle for which a licence is in force under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (c. 22);
(c) any vehicle which is exempt from duty under that Act.
(7) References in this Part to relevant premises include references to a part of relevant premises.
(8) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations modify subsections (1) to (6).
(9) Where the Scottish Ministers exercise the power in subsection (8), they may by regulations make any modifications of this Part in its application, in consequence of the exercise of that power, to relevant premises specified in the regulations under that subsection that they consider necessary or expedient.
(1) In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—
“Chapter 1 duties” means—
the duties imposed by sections 53, 54, 55 and 56; and
any duties imposed by regulations made under section 57 or 58;
“employee” has the meaning given by section 53(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37); and related expressions shall be construed accordingly;
“enforcement officer” means an enforcement officer appointed under section 61(3);
“enforcing authority” has the meaning given by section 61(9);
“fire safety measures” shall be construed in accordance with schedule 2;
“local authority” means a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39);
“operational task” means—
a function such as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) of section 9;
a function such as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) of section 10; or
a function such as is mentioned in an order under section 11(1);
“public road” has the meaning given by section 151(1) of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54);
“relevant person”, in relation to premises, means—
any person who is, or may be, lawfully in the premises; or
any person—
who is, or may be, in the immediate vicinity of the premises; and
whose safety would be at risk in the event of fire in the premises;
but does not include an employee of a relevant authority who is engaged in the performance of an operational task and, in its application to section 54, a person such as is mentioned in subsection (2);
“work” and “at work” shall be construed in accordance with section 52 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37);
“workplace”, in relation to an employer and the employer’s employees, means any relevant premises which are used for the purposes of an undertaking carried on by the employer and made available to an employee of the employer as a place of work; and includes—
any part of those premises to which an employee of the employer has access while at work;
any relevant premises (other than a public road)—
which are a means of access to or egress from the place of work; or
where facilities are provided for use in connection with the place of work.
(2) The person is, where the person (“the employer”) subject to the requirement to carry out an assessment (or a review) under section 54 is also subject to the requirement to carry out an assessment (or a review) under section 53, any employee of the employer.
(3) For the purposes of section 56 references in the definition of “relevant person” in subsection (1) to premises shall be construed as references to the workplace.
Fire (Scotland) Act 2005