EHS laws and regulators explained: HSE, WHS and HSWA, environmental permits and US recordable incidents

The HSE is Great Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. Environmental permits, Australian and New Zealand work health and safety laws and US recordable incidents each follow their own rules. This guide explains all four so EHS teams can see who regulates what and what each regime expects from them.

What is the HSE in the UK?

The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) is the independent regulator for work-related health, safety and illness in Great Britain. It was created under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and began operating in 1975. Northern Ireland has its own regulator, the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI).

What the HSE does

• Inspects workplaces and investigates serious incidents and complaints
• Issues improvement notices and prohibition notices when it finds a risk
• Prosecutes duty holders when they fall short of the law
• Publishes guidance and approved codes of practice
• Collects injury and disease reports under RIDDOR

Local authorities regulate lower-risk sectors such as offices, shops and hospitality. The HSE covers higher-risk sites such as factories, construction, mining, agriculture and chemical plants.

Laws the HSE enforces

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is the main law. It requires employers to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees and of anyone else affected by their work, so far as is reasonably practicable. Regulations sit underneath it. Common examples are the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH), the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

RIDDOR reporting

RIDDOR requires employers and other responsible persons to report work-related deaths, specified injuries, certain diseases and dangerous occurrences to the HSE. It also requires a report when an employee is incapacitated for more than seven consecutive days. Teams that track these events in one place find it easier to meet reporting deadlines.

Fee for intervention

When an HSE inspector finds a material breach of health and safety law, the HSE can recover its costs from the duty holder. This scheme is called Fee for Intervention. It makes a clean inspection record a financial matter as well as a legal one.

The HSE changes its guidance and the underlying regulations over time. A regulatory change log, with an owner for each change, keeps site procedures current. Ideagen EHS regulatory intelligence gives teams access to up-to-date regulatory information, including RIDDOR and changes to regulations, so they can see what changed and review the effect on their sites.

What is an environmental permit?

An environmental permit is legal permission to carry out an activity that could harm air, water or land. Operating without a required permit is an offense, and operating outside its conditions can lead to enforcement action.

Who issues environmental permits in the UK

• England: the Environment Agency, under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016
• Wales: Natural Resources Wales, under the same regulations
• Scotland: the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), under separate Scottish regulations
• Northern Ireland: the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)

Common permit types

Bespoke permits cover complex or higher-risk sites such as large industrial installations. Standard rules permits cover common activities under a fixed set of conditions. Some low-risk activities qualify for an exemption, which still has to be registered in many cases.

What permit conditions usually cover

• Emission limits for air, water and land
• Monitoring and sampling schedules
• Reporting to the regulator, including incident notifications
• Operating techniques and management systems
• Site closure and restoration

Permit conditions turn into recurring tasks: samples to take, results to log, reports to file and equipment to maintain. Missed tasks are the most common route from a compliant site to a breach. Assign every condition to a named person and a due date, and review the list whenever the regulator varies the permit.

Australian and New Zealand WHS and HSWA laws

Australia and New Zealand both base their workplace safety laws on the concept of a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU). A PCBU has a primary duty to keep workers and others safe, so far as is reasonably practicable. Senior leaders carry a separate duty of due diligence.

Australia: the model WHS laws

Safe Work Australia develops the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act, but each state and territory passes and enforces its own version. Most jurisdictions have adopted the model laws. Victoria still operates under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. The Commonwealth covers its own workplaces through a separate regulator, Comcare. Multi-state employers need to check local requirements for each site rather than assume one national rule.

New Zealand: the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015

The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) is New Zealand's main workplace safety law. WorkSafe New Zealand is the lead regulator. HSWA requires PCBUs to report notifiable events, which include deaths, notifiable injuries or illnesses and notifiable incidents, to WorkSafe.

Region	Main law	Regulator	Core duty holder
Great Britain	Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974	HSE and local authorities	Employers and other duty holders
Australia	Model WHS Act, adopted by state and territory (Victoria: OHS Act 2004)	State and territory regulators; Comcare for Commonwealth	PCBU
New Zealand	Health and Safety at Work Act 2015	WorkSafe New Zealand	PCBU
United States	Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970	OSHA	Employers

Practical steps for multi-region teams

• Map each site to its governing law and regulator
• Record who holds the officer due diligence duty at each site
• Set one incident taxonomy, then map it to each regulator's reporting triggers
• Review regulatory updates on a fixed schedule

US recordable incidents

A recordable incident is a work-related injury or illness that meets the recording criteria in OSHA's regulation 29 CFR Part 1904. Employers log these cases and use them to calculate injury rates.

What makes an incident recordable

A work-related injury or illness is recordable when it results in any of the following:

• Death
• Days away from work
• Restricted work or transfer to another job
• Medical treatment beyond first aid
• Loss of consciousness
• A significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional

First aid alone does not make a case recordable. Whether an injury is work-related and whether the treatment goes beyond first aid are the two questions that cause the most debate, so document the reasoning for each decision.

Which forms employers use

• OSHA Form 300: the log of work-related injuries and illnesses
• OSHA Form 300A: the annual summary, posted from February 1 to April 30 each year
• OSHA Form 301: the incident report for each case

Employers keep these records for five years. Some employers with 10 or fewer employees and some low-hazard industries are partially exempt from routine recordkeeping, but they must still report severe incidents.

Reporting severe incidents to OSHA

All covered employers must report a work-related fatality to OSHA within 8 hours. They must report an inpatient hospitalization, an amputation or a loss of an eye within 24 hours.

Total recordable incident rate

The total recordable incident rate (TRIR) shows how many recordable cases occur per 100 full-time workers in a year. The formula is: number of recordable cases x 200,000 / total hours worked by all employees. The 200,000 figure represents 100 employees working 40 hours a week for 50 weeks. Teams use TRIR to compare sites and track trends over time, and it only works when every site classifies incidents the same way.

How the four regimes fit together

Each regime asks the same basic question: can the organization show that it identified its legal duties and acted on them? The HSE inspects and enforces in Great Britain. Environmental regulators check permit conditions. WHS and HSWA regulators look at PCBU and officer duties. OSHA looks at records and reporting. Organizations operating across these regions benefit from one register of obligations, a named owner for each one and a regular review of regulatory change.

Frequently asked questions

Is the HSE the same as the Environment Agency?

No. The HSE regulates workplace health and safety in Great Britain. The Environment Agency regulates environmental matters in England, including environmental permits.

Does the HSE cover Northern Ireland?

No. The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) covers Northern Ireland.

What does PCBU mean?

PCBU stands for person conducting a business or undertaking. It is the main duty holder under the model WHS laws in Australia and under HSWA in New Zealand.

Is every workplace injury in the US recordable?

No. An injury is recordable only when it is work-related and meets one of the OSHA criteria, such as days away from work or medical treatment beyond first aid.