Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
The Notification of Installations Handling Hazardous Substances Regulations 1982 (“the principal Regulations”) prohibit the handling of certain hazardous substances in a quantity equal to or exceeding the quantity specified in Part I of Schedule 1, unless the Health and Safety Executive (“the Executive”) has been notified.
These Regulations amend the principal Regulations in relation to ammonium nitrate and mixtures containing ammonium nitrate—
in regulation 3(1), by substituting 4 weeks for 3 months as the minimum period of notice (regulation 3);
by excepting those substances from regulation 7(1), which provides that the enforcing authority for a site at which they are handled is always the Executive (regulation 4);
by adding regulation 9, containing transitional provision (regulation 5); and
by widening the description of mixtures containing ammonium nitrate specified in Part I of Schedule 1, and, in relation to both ammonium nitrate and the mixtures, by lowering the specified quantity from 500 to 150 tonnes (regulation 6).
A copy of the regulatory impact assessment prepared in respect of these Regulations may be obtained from the Economic and Statistical Analysis Unit, Health and Safety Unit, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS. Copies have been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament.