15 May 2025
Health and Safety Law establishes the basic principle that those that create the risk are responsible for managing it.
This is reflected in the wording of the Law:
- Article 3: It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all the employers’ employees
- Article 5: It shall be the duty of every employer and self-employed person to conduct their undertakings in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in their employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health and safety.
The law is not prescriptive and makes no mention of compliance. Yet we regularly hear the Law being referred to as ‘rules’ that need to be ‘complied with.’
So, which is it: risk management or compliance
A focus on risk management is proactive, it means finding and identifying, understanding and assessing, mitigating and controlling health and safety risks. It means understanding that risk management is a cycle of interlinked duties covering the planning, implementation, monitoring and review of risk control measures.
A focus on compliance is reactive, it means focussing on following specific guidance or regulations.
On its own compliance is not helpful in the context of the duties under Health and Safety Law which require proactive risk management. However, when seen as a subset of risk management by identifying and applying relevant guidance, industry standards, ACoPs or regulations you can ensure your work is done ‘in compliance’ with those standards.
Why is this important
Too often Inspectors see a focus on ‘compliance’ where dutyholders do the bare minimum and think they are managing their risks as the Law requires. A common example is the completion of risk assessments which are generic in nature and commonly do not reflect the circumstances of the work activity or workplace. This leads to a failure to identify or implement the necessary control measures. Paperwork alone does not manage risk, but it does provide a mechanism for identifying risks as well as the measures necessary for you to take to mitigate or control them.
Inspectors are also often asked what reasonably practicable means. In short, if there are existing industry standards, or relevant ACoPs or guidance we point to those as providing the answer to what your industry considers to be ‘reasonably practicable’ for you to implement.
Industry standards, ACoPs and guidance should form an integral part of your system of proactive risk management. You should use the framework of the law to identify and implement effective risk control measures and keep those measures under review so you can adapt to emerging risks or new innovations.
Further information
There is a range of guidance material produced by industry sector bodies. The HSI and HSE also provide information that is aimed at helping dutyholders understand how they can better identify and manage their risks across all business sectors.
Health and Safety Inspectorate
gov.je