Employers have the primary legal responsibility for workplace health and safety, but keeping a workplace safe is a shared responsibility.
Employees must take reasonable care of themselves and others, while directors, managers, supervisors, contractors and competent persons can also have important responsibilities depending on their roles.
There is also an important geographical distinction. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is the principal occupational health and safety legislation in England, Scotland and Wales, rather than the whole UK.
Northern Ireland operates under its own health and safety legislation and regulatory system.
Last Updated: 11.08.2026
| Person or organisation | Main responsibility |
|---|---|
| Employer | Managing workplace risks and protecting workers and others |
| Directors and senior leaders | Leadership, oversight and adequate resources |
| Managers and supervisors | Implementing safety arrangements |
| Employees | Taking reasonable care and following safety measures |
| Competent person | Helping the employer manage health and safety duties |
| Contractors | Managing risks connected with their work |
| HSE/local authorities | Enforcing health and safety law in Great Britain |
| HSENI | Regulating workplace health and safety in Northern Ireland |
Who Has the Main Responsibility for Health and Safety at Work?
The employer has the main responsibility. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers must protect the health, safety and welfare of employees and manage risks to other people who could be affected by their activities.
The HSE workplace safety law guidance confirms that employers and certain self-employed people must do what is reasonably practicable to protect workers and others.
What Does “Reasonably Practicable” Mean?
“Reasonably practicable” involves balancing the level of risk against what would be required to control it in terms of money, time or difficulty. The greater the risk, the stronger the justification needed for not taking an available precaution.
Can an Employer Delegate Health and Safety Responsibility?
Employers can delegate particular health and safety tasks to managers, supervisors, employees or advisers, but outsourcing the work does not automatically transfer the employer’s underlying legal responsibility.
Clear allocation of responsibilities is particularly important in larger workplaces, while effective workplace organisation and business performance can also depend on employees understanding who is accountable for different operational duties.
What Are an Employer’s Legal Health and Safety Duties in 2026?
Employers must identify workplace hazards, assess risks and put appropriate controls in place. Depending on the workplace, their responsibilities can include providing safe systems of work, maintaining equipment, giving adequate information and training, consulting workers, providing welfare facilities and reviewing safety arrangements.
HSE guidance also requires organisations to plan, organise, control, monitor and review preventive measures and have access to competent health and safety assistance.
For businesses with higher-risk environments, the practical controls can be more extensive. Measures for improving health and safety in warehouses may, for example, involve vehicle movements, manual handling, storage systems, machinery and pedestrian separation.
When Must an Employer Record a Risk Assessment?
Every employer must assess relevant workplace risks. Where an organisation employs five or more people, the significant findings of the risk assessment must be recorded. Controls should then be monitored and reviewed to ensure they remain effective.
Does an Employer Have to Provide PPE for Free?
Where PPE is necessary because risks cannot adequately be controlled by other means, employers must provide the required protective clothing or equipment without charging employees.
This can include items such as protective gloves, footwear, eye protection, helmets or respiratory equipment where appropriate.
What Health and Safety Responsibilities Do Employees Have?
Employees also have legal duties. They must take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of people who could be affected by what they do or fail to do.
Workers should:
- follow appropriate health and safety training and instructions
- use machinery and equipment correctly
- use supplied PPE properly
- cooperate with their employer’s safety arrangements
- report hazards, defective equipment and inadequate precautions
- avoid behaviour that unnecessarily puts other people at risk
These responsibilities apply alongside the employer’s primary duty to establish and manage a safe system of work.
Employment status can affect other workplace protections, so questions about employment rights without a written contract should be considered separately from the basic obligation to manage workplace safety.
Can Directors and Managers Be Personally Responsible for Health and Safety?
Directors and senior managers play an important role because decisions about staffing, equipment, budgets, training and working practices can directly affect how risks are controlled.
Managers and supervisors may also have specific responsibilities delegated to them, such as ensuring procedures are followed, reporting problems, checking equipment or supervising higher-risk work.
Can a Director Be Prosecuted Personally?
Potentially. HSE states that where a health and safety offence occurs with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to neglect by, a director, manager, secretary or similar company officer, that individual can potentially be prosecuted alongside the organisation under section 37 of the 1974 Act.
Personal liability therefore depends on the circumstances rather than automatically arising whenever an accident occurs.
Who Is the Competent Person for Workplace Health and Safety?
Employers must appoint one or more competent people to help them meet their health and safety duties. A competent person should have sufficient skills, knowledge and experience to recognise hazards and help establish appropriate controls.
Can an Employer Be the Competent Person?
Yes. In a straightforward, lower-risk business, an employer can appoint themselves, one or more employees, or a combination of suitable people.
Outside professional assistance may be appropriate where the organisation lacks the competence needed internally, particularly for complex or higher-risk work.
Does a Competent Person Need Formal Qualifications?
Not necessarily. HSE states that formal qualifications and formal training are not usually legally required simply to be the competent person, although training and professional qualifications can help.
Some specialised activities can have more specific competence requirements.
What Must a Workplace Health and Safety Policy Include?
Every business should have arrangements for managing health and safety. Where there are five or more employees, the health and safety policy must be written down.
A well-structured policy normally contains three elements:
Statement of Intent
This establishes the organisation’s overall health and safety objectives and commitment.
Health and Safety Responsibilities
It identifies the people responsible for specific areas, such as risk assessments, training, equipment, fire arrangements and accident reporting.
Health and Safety Arrangements
This explains how the organisation will put the policy into practice, including risk controls, training, inspections and emergency procedures. HSE recommends that the policy is shared with employees and reviewed when appropriate.
Who Is Responsible When a Workplace Health and Safety Problem Is Reported?
Workers should report risks promptly to the appropriate manager, employer or safety representative. Employers should take reported risks seriously, assess the problem and take proportionate action where necessary.
The Acas health and safety guidance says workers should do what they reasonably can to avoid or safely reduce a risk and report it to the appropriate person. If an issue remains unresolved, workers can potentially raise it with the appropriate enforcement authority.
Can an Employee Refuse Unsafe Work?
In circumstances involving serious and imminent danger, a worker who cannot safely remove the danger may be able to leave the work area or workplace or refuse to return. Protection from dismissal or detriment can apply depending on the circumstances.
This is not the same as an unrestricted right to refuse any task simply because an employee considers it undesirable or potentially risky.
Can an Employer Punish Someone for Reporting Safety Concerns?
Workers can have legal protections against dismissal or detrimental treatment for qualifying health and safety actions.
The legal position depends on what happened and why the worker took action, so it should not be treated as an automatic protection covering every workplace disagreement.
Related questions about dismissal without a written warning involve wider employment-law considerations in addition to health and safety protections.
Who Is Responsible When Workplace Safety Goes Wrong?
Choose a role or real workplace situation to see how health and safety responsibility is shared.
Who Does What?
Select a role for a quick responsibility check.
Must identify and manage workplace risks, provide safe systems of work, appropriate information and training, and protect people affected by the organisation’s activities.
What Happens in a Real Safety Situation?
Pick a workplace event to see how responsibility flows.
A worker reports a safety hazard
Reporting the problem is only the beginning. The risk then needs to be assessed and, where necessary, controlled.
The concern should be raised promptly through the appropriate workplace route.
The employer should assess the issue and decide what proportionate action is required.
Existing precautions may need to be strengthened or changed.
Quick Safety Check
1 QuestionA business has only three employees. Does it still need to assess workplace risks?
Which Safety System Applies?
Great Britain and Northern Ireland operate under different legislative and regulatory systems.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
This is the principal occupational health and safety legislation applying across Great Britain.
Employers must assess risks regardless of size. With five or more employees, significant findings must be recorded and the health and safety policy must be written down.
Who Is Responsible for Agency Workers, Contractors and Visitors?
Health and safety responsibility can overlap when several organisations or groups are involved.
Acas states that where an organisation hires an agency worker, both the hirer and the employment agency have health and safety responsibilities. Agency workers should also be included in relevant workplace risk assessments.
Contractors must manage risks created by their work where legal duties apply, while the organisation controlling a workplace may also need to coordinate activities and protect people affected by them.
Employers’ duties can also extend beyond employees. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act includes protection for members of the public and others who may be affected by work activities.
Who Enforces Workplace Health and Safety Law?
In Great Britain, health and safety law is primarily enforced by HSE or local authorities, with responsibility depending on the type of workplace and activity.
Inspectors can investigate suspected breaches and use enforcement powers where legal requirements are not being met.
What Happens When Health and Safety Duties Are Breached?
Possible regulatory consequences include improvement or prohibition notices and prosecution. Separately, someone who suffers injury or illness may potentially pursue compensation through civil law.
Criminal enforcement and civil compensation are different processes: HSE and local authorities enforce criminal health and safety law but do not determine civil compensation claims.
What Penalties Can Employers and Individuals Face for Health and Safety Breaches?
There is no universal £20,000 ceiling that applies to serious workplace health and safety offences.
HSE states that courts can impose unlimited fines and, for applicable offences, custodial sentences of up to two years. The actual sentence depends on the offence, circumstances and court.
Directors and other officers can also face individual prosecution where the legal requirements for personal liability are met.
Are Workplace Health and Safety Responsibilities the Same Across the UK?
No. One of the most important distinctions is between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
What Rules Apply in England, Scotland and Wales?
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is the primary occupational health and safety legislation covering Great Britain England, Scotland and Wales. HSE and local authorities divide enforcement responsibility according to the workplace and activity.
What Health and Safety Rules Apply in Northern Ireland?
Northern Ireland has a separate legislative system. Under Northern Ireland employer safety duties, employers must make workplaces safe, control risks, provide necessary information and training, provide adequate welfare facilities and consult workers.
| Area | Main framework and enforcement |
|---|---|
| England | Great Britain framework; HSE or local authority |
| Scotland | Great Britain framework; HSE or local authority |
| Wales | Great Britain framework; HSE or local authority |
The distinction matters because describing HSE simply as the regulator for the entire UK can overlook Northern Ireland’s separate system.
Who Is Responsible When a Workplace Accident Happens?
Responsibility after an accident depends on what happened, who controlled the risks and whether legal duties were breached. Employers should deal with immediate risks, provide appropriate assistance, investigate what happened and review controls to prevent recurrence.
Certain deaths, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences must also be reported under RIDDOR in Great Britain when the statutory criteria are satisfied.
HSE states that the “responsible person” for a RIDDOR report can include an employer, certain self-employed people or someone in control of work premises.
Where an incident involves a fall, understanding what to do after a slip and fall accident can also be relevant alongside the employer’s accident-recording and investigation procedures.
How Can Employers Create a Strong Workplace Safety Culture?
Legal compliance establishes the minimum framework, but effective health and safety also depends on how consistently those arrangements work in practice.
Strong organisations generally:
- make senior leaders visibly accountable for safety
- consult employees about workplace risks
- give workers appropriate information, training and supervision
- make reporting problems straightforward
- assign responsibilities clearly
- monitor whether controls are actually being followed
- review arrangements after changes, incidents or identified weaknesses
HSE’s management approach emphasises planning, putting measures into practice, checking controls and acting when arrangements are not working.
Who Ultimately Holds Responsibility for Workplace Health and Safety?
Employers hold the primary responsibility for managing workplace health and safety, but safe workplaces depend on several people fulfilling different duties.
Employees must take reasonable care and cooperate with safety arrangements, while managers, directors, competent persons and contractors can have responsibilities linked to their roles and activities.
Businesses should therefore treat workplace safety as a structured management responsibility rather than something assigned to a single employee or department.
They should also recognise that Great Britain and Northern Ireland operate under different legislative and regulatory frameworks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Every UK Business Need a Health and Safety Policy?
Businesses need arrangements for managing health and safety. In Great Britain, where an employer has five or more employees, HSE says the policy must be written down. Businesses with fewer than five employees do not have to write the policy down, although doing so can still be useful.
Can a Small Business Owner Be Their Own Competent Person?
Yes. A small business owner can act as the competent person if they have the skills, knowledge and experience needed to manage the workplace’s risks effectively.
Who Pays for PPE at Work?
Where PPE is required because workplace risks cannot adequately be controlled in another way, the employer must provide the necessary protective clothing or equipment free of charge.
Are Contractors Responsible for Their Own Health and Safety?
Contractors can have duties relating to risks created by their work, but responsibility can overlap with the organisation engaging them or controlling the workplace. Both parties should therefore coordinate risk-management arrangements rather than assuming the other is solely responsible.
Who Is Responsible for Visitors’ Safety in a Workplace?
Employers and other dutyholders must consider people who could be affected by their work activities, which can include visitors, customers and members of the public.
Does a Business With Fewer Than Five Employees Need a Risk Assessment?
Yes. The five-employee threshold relates to recording significant findings, not whether risks need to be assessed. Employers still have to assess and manage workplace risks even where fewer than five people are employed.
What Should an Employee Do if a Health and Safety Concern Is Ignored?
The employee should normally raise the concern through the workplace’s reporting procedure, employer or safety representative first. If a significant problem remains unresolved, it may be appropriate to contact the relevant health and safety enforcing authority.
