The Health and Safety Act 2008 (c 20) is an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 of the Parliament

Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

 of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

According to the explanatory notes to the Act, the precursors of this Act were:

• A joint review of the maximum penalties for health and safety offences carried out between February and September 1999 by the Home Office
  Home Office
  The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
  
  , the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, and the Health and Safety Executive
  Health and Safety Executive
  The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
  
  ;
• The report Reducing administrative burdens: effective inspection and enforcement by Philip Hampton;
• The report Regulating Justice: Making Sanctions Effective by Richard B Macrory.

Section 1 - Health and safety offences: mode of trial and maximum penalty

Section 1(1) substituted new sections 33(2) and (3) for the existing sections 33(1A) to (4) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

Section 1(2), with Schedule 1, inserted Schedule 3A of that Act.

Section 1(3) substituted new paragraphs 31(2) and (3) for the existing paragraphs 31(1A) to (5) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1039 (N.I. 9))

Section 1(4), with Schedule 2, inserted Schedule 3A of that Order.

Section 2 - Consequential amendments and repeals

Section 2(1) provides that Schedules 3 and 4 have effect.

Section 3 - Short title, commencement and extent

Section 3(2) provides that the Act came into force at the end of the period of three months that began on the date on which it was passed. The word "months" means calendar months. The day (that is to say, 16 October 2008) on which the Act was passed (that is to say, received royal assent) is included in the period of three months. This means that the Act came into force on 16 January 2009.

Section 3(3) provides that the Act does not apply to offences committed before that date.

External links

• The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008, as amended from the National Archives.
• The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008, as originally enacted from the National Archives.
• Explanatory notes to the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008.