The Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014

Enforcement

6.—(1) It is the duty of the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (1) to make adequate arrangements for the enforcement of these Regulations.

(2) Subject to paragraph (5), the provisions of the 1978 Order specified in paragraph (3) (the “specified provisions”) apply for the purposes of the enforcement of these Regulations as if in the specified provisions—

(a) a reference to the “enforcing authority” was a reference to the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland;

(b) a reference to the “relevant statutory provisions” was a reference to these Regulations and to the specified provisions; and

(c) a reference to “health and safety regulations” was a reference to these Regulations.

(3) The provisions of the 1978 Order referred to in paragraph (2) are—

(a) article 21 and 22 (appointment and powers of inspectors)(2) excluding section 22(3);

(b) article 23 and 24 (improvement and prohibition notices)(3);

(c) article 25 (provisions supplementary to sections 23 and 24)(4);

(d) article 26 (appeal against improvement and prohibition notices);

(e) article 28 (power to indemnify inspectors);

(f) article 30 (restrictions on disclosure of information)(5)

(g) articles 31(1)(c), (e) to (h), (j) to (o) and (2), 32(1)(c) and (2), 33, 34(1) and (2), 34 to 38 and 39(1) to (3) (provisions as to offences)(6); and

(4) The mode of trial and maximum penalty applicable to each offence listed in the first column of the following table are set out opposite each offence in the subsequent columns of the table.

Offence	Mode of trial	Penalty on summary conviction	Penalty on conviction on indictment
An offence under section 31(1) (c ), (e), (f), (g), (j), (k), (l), (m) or (o)	Summarily or on indictment.	Imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both.	Imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or a fine, or both.
An offence under section 31(1) (h),	Summarily	Imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both.
An offence under section 31(1) (n).	Summarily	A fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(5) A failure to discharge a duty placed on the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland by these Regulations is not an offence under section 31(1) (c) of the 1978 Order.

(1)

Formerly known as the Health and Safety Agency for Northern Ireland which was established under Article 12 of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1039 (N.I.9). Article 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/2795 (N.I. 18) changed its name to the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland.

(2)

Article 22(7) was amended by the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33), section 261(3) and Schedule 29, paragraph 7.

(3)

Article 24(1) and (2) was amended by the Consumer Protection (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 S.I. 1987/2049 (N.I.20), Article 28 and Schedule 2, paragraph 3. Article 24(3) was substituted by S.I. 1987/2049 (N.I. 20), Article 28 and Schedule 2, paragraph 3.

(4)

Article 25(5) was amended by the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order S.I. 2006/1254 (N.I. 9), Articles 1(3) and 63(1) and Schedule 3, paragraph 11.

(5)

Article 30(1) (a) was amended by S.I. 1987/2049 (N.I. 20), article 28 and Schedule 2, paragraph 6. Article 30(3) (a), 30(4) and 30(5) (a) were amended by the Health and Safety at Work (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 No.2795 (N.I. 18), Article 6 and Schedule 1, paragraph 8

(6)

Article 31(1)(h) was amended by the Consumer Protection (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 S.I. 1987/2049 (N.I. 20), Article 28 and Schedule 2, paragraph 7. Article 31(1)(m) was amended by the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 No. 1883 (N.I. 15), Article 9. Article 31(2) and (3) were substituted for Article 31(1A) to (5) by the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 (c.20) s. 1(3) and (4).