Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

1.13.2
The Environment Agency (Scottish 
Environmental Protection Agency)
The Environment Agency was established in 1995 and 
was given the duty to protect and improve the environ-
ment. It is the regulatory body for environmental matters 
and has an infl uence on health and safety issues.
It is responsible for authorising and regulating 
emissions from industry.
Other duties and functions of the agency include:
➤
ensuring effective controls of the most polluting 
industries
➤
monitoring radioactive releases from nuclear sites
➤
ensuring that discharges to controlled waters are at 
acceptable levels
➤
setting standards and issuing permits for the col-
lection, transportation, processing and disposal of 
waste (including radioactive waste)
➤
enforcement of the Producer Responsibility Obliga-
tions (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997. These 
result from an EC Directive which seeks to minimize 
packaging and re-cycle at least 50% of it
➤
enforcement of the Waste Electrical and Electronic 
Equipment (WEEE) Directive and its associated 
directives.
The Agency may prosecute in the criminal courts for the 
infringement of environmental law – in one case a fi ne of 
£4 m was imposed. 
1.13.3 Insurance 
companies
Insurance companies play an important role in the 
improvement of health and safety standards. Since 1969, 
it has been a legal requirement for employers to insure 
against liability for injury or disease to their employees 
arising out of their employment. This is called employers’ 
liability insurance and was covered earlier in this chapter. 
Certain public sector organizations are exempted from 
this requirement because any compensation is paid from 
public funds. Other forms of insurance include fi re insur-
ance and public liability insurance (to protect members 
of the public).
Premiums for all these types of insurance are related 
to levels of risk which is related to standards of health 
and safety. In recent years, there has been a consider-
able increase in the number and size of compensation 
claims and this has placed further pressure on insurance 
companies.
Insurance companies are becoming effective health 
and safety regulators by weighing the premium offered 
to an organization according to its safety and/or fi re 
precaution record.