HSWA 1974 s3: HSE Duties to Non-Employees

Regulatory citation: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37), section 3

What Is Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act?

Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) protects people who are not your employees. It requires employers to run their undertaking so that, so far as is reasonably practicable, people not in their employment are not exposed to risks to their health or safety. This covers contractors, agency workers, visitors, customers, patients, pupils and members of the public.

Section 3 also places a similar duty on some self-employed people. Since 1 October 2015 that duty applies only to self-employed people who conduct an undertaking of a prescribed description.

Why Section 3 Matters

Work activities often affect people outside the workforce. A falling load, a poorly managed contractor or an unsafe public area can injure someone who has no contract with you. Section 3 makes those risks part of your legal duty, alongside your duties to employees under section 2.

Core Obligations

1. Protect People Not in Your Employment (s3(1))

Every employer must conduct its undertaking so that, so far as is reasonably practicable, people not in its employment who may be affected are not exposed to health and safety risks. The duty covers how you run the whole undertaking, including premises, equipment, work methods and the contractors you choose.

2. Self-Employed Duties for Prescribed Undertakings (s3(2))

A self-employed person who conducts an undertaking of a prescribed description must protect themselves and other people, not being their employees, who may be affected. The words limiting the duty to prescribed undertakings were inserted by the Deregulation Act 2015.

3. Check Whether Your Activity Is Prescribed (SI 2015/1583, reg 2 and Schedule)

An undertaking is prescribed if it involves an activity listed in the Schedule: agriculture (including forestry), work with asbestos, construction, gas work, genetically modified organisms and railways. It is also prescribed if the activity is not listed but may pose a risk to the health and safety of someone other than the self-employed person or their employees.

4. Give Information Where Prescribed (s3(3))

In prescribed cases, employers and self-employed people must give people who are not their employees prescribed information about the way they conduct their undertaking that might affect those people's health or safety.

5. Inform and Instruct Visiting Workers (MHSWR reg 12)

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 add practical detail. Host employers must give the employers of visiting workers understandable information on the risks from the host's activities and the protective measures in place. They must also give suitable instructions and information to anyone working in their undertaking who is not their employee, and tell them who manages evacuation.

6. Be Ready to Prove Reasonable Practicability (s40)

Failing to discharge a section 3 duty is an offence under section 33(1)(a). In a prosecution, section 40 puts the burden on the accused to prove that it was not reasonably practicable to do more than was done.

Common Compliance Approaches

Include Others in Risk Assessments

List contractors, visitors and the public as groups who may be harmed, and record the controls that protect them.

Select and Monitor Contractors

Check a contractor's competence before appointment, share site rules and hazards, and supervise work in proportion to the risk.

Separate the Public From the Work

Use barriers, signs, exclusion zones and timing to keep people away from vehicle movements, lifting and other hazards.

Example: Section 3 in Practice

A retail distribution company hires a roofing contractor to repair its warehouse roof. Before work starts, it checks the contractor's method statement and fall protection, shares its own traffic routes and fire procedures, and fences off the area below the work. Delivery drivers are told to use a different loading bay for the week. When a member of the public asks to collect an order, staff escort him away from the cordoned area.

Related regulations: HSWA section 2 general duties, MHSWR risk assessments, HSWA sections 7 and 8 employee duties.

Note: This summary reflects the law as it applies in Great Britain, enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities. Northern Ireland has equivalent but separate legislation. Always check the current legislation and HSE guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does section 3 protect members of the public?

Yes. The duty covers anyone not in the employer's employment who may be affected by the undertaking, including members of the public, customers and visitors.

Do all self-employed people have duties under section 3?

No. Since October 2015 the duty applies only where the work involves a listed activity, such as construction or gas work, or may pose a risk to other people. Self-employed people whose work poses no risk to others, such as someone doing accounts at home, are outside the duty.

Who has to prove what was reasonably practicable?

Under section 40, the person charged must prove that it was not reasonably practicable to do more than they did to meet the duty.