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Health & Safety Executive

Health and Safety Executive

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a national independent watchdog which has statutory responsibility in Great Britain for securing the health and safety of workers and protecting the general public from work-related risks. HSE’s responsibilities go beyond core Health and Safety at Work and include, for example, the regulation of nuclear safety and security, pesticides and animal pathogens. HSE works closely with other government departments, particularly the Department for Work and Pensions (its parent department), the Department for Energy and Climate and Climate Change (DECC) and DEFRA.

HSE’s legal advisers are able, committed lawyers, who enjoy a very broad range of high quality work. They have the satisfaction of knowing that their advice, casework and regulations can make a direct impact on saving lives. In addition, our work places emphasis on the Cabinet Office’s better regulation agenda. HSE believes that risk management should be about practical steps to protect people from real harm and suffering, not bureaucratic back covering. If you believe some of the stories in the press, you might think that health and safety law is all about stopping any activity that might possibly lead to harm. This is not HSE’s vision of sensible health and safety - our approach is to seek a balance between the unachievable aim of absolute safety and the kind of poor management of risk that damages lives and the UK economy.

Work of the Legal Team

HSE Legal Adviser’s Office consists of three teams: one dealing with enforcement and two dealing with advisory and drafting work. The enforcement team is based at HSE’s headquarters in Bootle, Merseyside, and the two advisory teams are located in London.

The Enforcement Team

The Enforcement Team is responsible for a wide variety of casework including direct responsibility for the more complex and/or high profile prosecutions under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The team also monitors and liaises with solicitor agents handling lower profile cases on behalf of the organisation. The team’s portfolio also includes appeals against Enforcement Notices before the Employment Tribunal and a variety of civil litigation. The team provides enforcement advice; legal training and updates to operational staff, policy advisory work and lead on liaison with other prosecution agencies.

The Advisory and Drafting Team

Advisory support to the Health & Safety Executive is provided by two teams located in TSol's Central Advisory Division. These teams provide general advice on all aspects of health and safety law. Advisory portfolios include the nuclear, oil, gas, and fire industries, construction, occupational stress, environment issues such as tobacco smoke, and biocides, amongst others. Lawyers will have involvement with high profile issues such as the Buncefield explosion and the government’s policy on new nuclear power stations. Advisory and drafting lawyers are also responsible for the drafting of statutory instruments, many of which originate from European measures, and are involved at all stages from negotiation of the text of Directives to consultation on proposed Regulations. They also advise on a number of corporate issues including contract, tort, information law (Freedom of Information and Data Protection Act), employment, copyright and intellectual property rights and procurement law issues.

Vacancies

Qualified lawyer vacancies for posts in this department are advertised through the central GLS scheme. All vacancies are posted on the Civil Service Recruitment Gateway (this link will open in a new window).

Trainee Solicitors and Pupil Barristers are occasionally recruited through the GLS Legal Trainee Scheme.

Further Information

Opportunities for qualified lawyers are advertised on the Civil ServiceRecruitment Gateway. Click here to go to the Civil Service Recruitment Gateway (this will open in a new window).

For further information please visit www.hse.gov.uk