Health and Safety in Employment Act and the CAA

Background

On 5 May 2003, the Prime Minister designated the Civil Aviation Authority to administer the provisions of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 in respect of the aviation sector, specifically for aircraft while in operation. The scope of this designation is specified in the notice that was published in the Gazette.

The CAA HSE Designation authorises the CAA to administer the HSE Act in respect of work on board aircraft. This includes: aircraft operations

  • aircraft operations in which there exists an employer/employee relationship between aircraft operators and those persons employed to work on board an aircraft
  • aircraft operations involving self-employed people,
  • aircraft operations involving contract principals.

This means the CAA is intended to ensure that health and safety practices are adhered to on aircraft as a place of work.

The Minister of Labour, in a press release of 5 May 2003, said that the CAA will look after aircraft when they are in operation, ie the period when the aircraft is taxiing, taking off, in flight, and landing. All other work performed on or around an aircraft that is not in operation will be administered by the Department of Labour Health and Safety Service.

The CAA HSE Approach

The CAA HSE Unit will follow the CAA 'Just Culture' approach to health and safety management. This approach allows a civil aviation participant and document holder to voluntarily comply with the requirements of the HSE Act. Where the CAA finds a client non-compliant with the Act, it will work with the client to bring the client back into compliance, using a graduated response to manage the non-compliances. This graduated response will start with the provision of information, education, advice and guidance, and the use of CAA Finding Notices to record and manage corrective action. If this approach does not produce the desired response, the CAA will use regulatory tools as documented in Section 12 of the CAA HSE Policy to bring a client into compliance.

The CAA HSE Unit is a stand-alone department within the CAA. The first priorities of the Unit are the establishment of in-house systems, and development of working relationships - both internal and external. The staff will respond to enquiries for information in the HSE area that the CAA has been designated to administer.

Further Information