employers most flexibility and costs them least, while

providing proper safeguards for employees and the public.

HSE publishes guidance on a range of subjects (please see

the end of this guide).

Guidance can be specific to the health and safety problems

of an industry or of a particular process used in a number of

The main purposes of guidance are:

to interpret - helping people to understand what the

law says - including for example how requirements

based on EC Directives fit with those under the

Health and Safety at Work Act;

to help people comply with the law;

to give technical advice.

Following guidance is not compulsory and employers are

free to take other action. But if they do follow guidance they

will normally be doing enough to comply with the law.

(Please also see the sections below on Approved Codes of

Practice and regulations, which explain other ways in which

employers are helped to know whether they are doing what

the law requires.)

HSC/E aim to keep guidance up-to-date, because as

technologies change, risks and the measures needed to

address them change too.

Approved Codes of Practice offer practical examples of

good practice.