§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish details of health and safety legislation which is presently applicable in Great Britain but has still to be applied to Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Tim SmithSome Great Britain health and safety legislation relates to specific industries—mainly underground coal mining but including some others such as jute processing and nuclear power generation—which have no presence, or only a minimal presence, in Northern Ireland and it has not been considered necessary to replicate this legislation for Northern Ireland.
The following Great Britain health and safety provisions, of a more general nature, have still to be replicated for Northern Ireland:
Title Statutory instrument number Footnote number 1. The Mines and Quarries (Tips) Regulations 1971 1971/1377 1 2. The Mines and Quarries (Tipping Plans) Rules 1971 1971/1378 1 3. The Anthrax Prevention Order 1971 (Exemptions) Regulations 1982 1982/1418 2 4. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1984 1984/1358 3 5. The Dangerous Substances in Harbour Areas Regulations 1987 1987/37 4 6. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences (Amendment) Regulations 1989 1989/1457 5 7. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 1990 1990/824 3 8. The Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 1993 1993/1321 9. The Miscellaneous Factories (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 1993 1993/2482 10. The Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994 1994/237 11. The Railways (Safety Critical Work) Regulations 1994 1994/299 12. The Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 1994 1994/397 13. The Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail (Classification, Packaging and Regulations 1994 1994/669 14. The Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail Regulations 1994 1994/670 Footnotes:
1. It is now considered appropriate to replicate these items in view of the possible commencement of surface gold mining activities in Northern Ireland.
2. These regulations give powers to grant exemptions from the requirements of the Anthrax Prevention Order 1971 and while they have presently no significant relevance for Northern Ireland there is a possibility that they may have to be replicated at some time in the future in response to a requirement of the textile industry.
3. These items were not replicated because of the run-down of the towns gas industry in Northern Ireland. However, it is now appropriate to consider replication as the application of the regulations in Great Britain is to be extended to cover liquefied petroleum gas and also because of plans to bring a natural gas supply to Northern Ireland.
4. This item has been replicated in so far as it applies to dangerous substances other than explosives by the Dangerous Substances in Harbour Areas Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1991. It is hoped that regulations covering explosives will be in place later this year.
238W5. The application of these regulations to Northern Ireland would relate to mines only and they have not been replicated because there is minimal mining activity in Northern Ireland.