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Jurisdiction: ROI
Commencement: 30th April 2019
Amends: Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (SI 10/2005)
Mini Summary
This Act makes further requirements for securing the safety, health and welfare of persons at work and for the enforcement of relevant statutory provisions.
Amendment
This Order enables the Health and Safety Authority to enter into agreements with other persons or organisations (inside or outside the Republic of Ireland) involved in health and safety at work, in relation to recognition of matters connected with the functions of the Authority. This does not affect any duties for employers.
Jurisdiction: England, Scotland, Wales
Commencement: Articles 2 and 5 come into force on 1st October 2019. The remainder of this Order comes into force on 1st January 2020.
Mini Summary
This Order introduces the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) which provides for payments to be made to generators of small-scale low-carbon electricity when they export it to the grid.
Summary
This Order introduces the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) which instructs large electricity suppliers to pay generators of small-scale low-carbon electricity, when they export it to the grid. This is to support the renewable energy industry.
It partially replaces the Feed-In Tariffs (FIT) scheme, which ended in March 2019.
Note: The licence modifications of electricity distribution and supply companies is covered under the Energy Act 2008 in Sections 41 (1)-(3).
Duties
Electricity suppliers
Electricity suppliers with more than 150,000 domestic customers are required to offer a price for the surplus electricity supplied to the grid by low-carbon electricity generators. The price is set at above 0 pence per kWh, provided that the amount exported is metered and registered for settlement. A set price is not prescribed.
Remuneration applies to low-carbon generators with a maximum capacity of 5 megawatts (MW) of total installed capacity.
Anaerobic digestion
The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, which is responsible for administering the SEG, has particular duties where electricity is generated via anaerobic digestion (AD). These are to verify:
This means electricity suppliers using AD to generate electricity and seek SEG payments with respect to that AD plant have corresponding duties to ensure the plant meets sustainability and feedstock criteria and to provide the required information to demonstrate this to the Authority.
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Jurisdiction: ROI
Commencement: 30th June 2019
Amends: European Communities (Carriage Of Dangerous Goods By Road And Use Of Transportable Pressure Equipment) Regulations
Mini Summary
These Regulations specify the requirements for vehicles, tanks, tank containers, receptacles and packages containing dangerous goods during their transport. The Regulations require that the drivers, and others involved in the transport by road of the dangerous goods, be adequately trained. Drivers must hold certificates of such training.
Amendment
Directive 2008/68/EC on the inland transport of dangerous goods and ADR are updated periodically. These Amendment Regulations make minor amendments to the European Communities (Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment) Regulations 2011 (which implement Directive 2008/68/EC and ADR) to update references and align the 2011 Regulations with the most up to date version of ADR. The Regulations give effect to the changes to the ADR agreement that came into force on 1st January 2019.
References to thorough examinations of gas receptacles constructed before 1 July 2003 are changed to references to periodic examinations.
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Our intuitive online system helps manage your compliance obligations for environment, health & safety and food.
Jurisdiction: EU
Commencement: 1st January 2020
Mini Summary
These Regulations lay down rules for members of the European Union throughout the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, relating to testing the levels of pesticide residues on food and feed of plant and animal origin.
Summary
These Regulations will come into force on 1st January 2020.
Members of the European Union (EU) are required to take samples from food of plant and animal origin, and analyse these samples for pesticide residue levels throughout the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. This is part of a multiannual control programme which has been taking place since 2009.
Previously, the latest programme was Regulation (EU) No. 2018/555 concerning a coordinated multiannual control programme of the Union for 2019, 2020 and 2021 to ensure compliance with maximum residue levels of pesticides and to assess the consumer exposure to pesticide residues in and on food of plant and animal origin.
As the usage of pesticides show significant changes over a period of time, pesticides should be monitored in chosen foodstuffs to allow consumer exposure and current legislation to be assessed.
In order to avoid confusion due to an overlap between consecutive multiannual programmes, the previous programme, Regulation (EU) No. 2018/555, will no longer be operable from 1st January 2020. However, for samples tested under the 2018 Regulations will continue to apply until 1st September 2020.
Duties
There are no duties for organisations.
The lots* of food to be tested, are to be chosen randomly, and tested to the procedure detailed in Directive 2002/63/EC establishing Community methods of sampling for the official control of pesticide residues in and on products of plant and animal origin.
*A lot is a batch of sales units of food produced, manufactured or packaged.
Members of the EU are required to submit results of the samples tested by the 31st August of the previous calendar year (2021, 2022, and 2023).
The results shall be submitted electronically to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). If a pesticide residue includes more than one active substance, metabolite, breakdown, or reaction products, Members of the European Union, must report the analysis results with the full name of the residue.
A list of products to be sampled in each year, is included in Annex I, which includes:
Annex I includes foods intended for infants and young children and products originating from organic farming. Foods that are intended for infants and young children have additional requirements, which should take into account the maximum residue levels set out in:
Annex II details the minimum number of samples each EU country is required to take. The UK is required to take a minimum of 71 samples per item.
Requirements are set out in each year to analyse specific products:
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New requirements on RoHS are coming, adding four new substances to be restricted under Directive 2011/65/EU on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.
The additional substance restrictions and maximum concentration values will come into force on 22nd July 2019 and are:
The newly added hazardous substances are mainly used as plasticisers to soften plastics and will be restricted from 22nd July 2019 for all electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). There is an exception for medical devices and monitoring control equipment, these will have to comply by 22nd July 2022.
The restriction of the additional substances shall not apply to toys which already restrict the use of DEHP, BBP and DBP under REACH Regulations.
The 10 hazardous substances that will be restricted in EEE under RoHS are:
High risk sectors where workers are exposed to a range of different dusts that are linked to respiratory diseases are being targeted for inspection.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced on 11th June 2019, that the new round of dust control inspections will take place over the next few weeks.
HSE inspectors are set to concentrate on the following industries where occupational lung diseases and cancers are more common:
HSE inspectors will look to see what measures are put in place to protect workers’ lungs from asbestos, silica, wood and flour dust. Businesses will need to show that they worked with employees to highlight the risks, plan work properly and put in place the right controls.
Chief medical officer, Professor Fishwick, says that exposure to asbestos, silica, flour and wood dust can have life changing consequences. He continues to add that work related lung diseases linked to past exposures are estimated to kill 12,000 workers across Great Britain each year, and in many cases the diseases take a long time to develop after exposure.
The overall aim is for the HSE to ensure employers and employees are aware of the risks associated with any tasks that produce dust, therefore, work needs to be planned correctly and use the right control measures such as extraction, use of masks and dampening dust particles.
In order to prepare for upcoming inspections, there are multiple guidance documents available on the HSE website and within the COSHH Regulations. These are available to employers and employees in order to keep the workforce healthy, to help understand the risks, and how to prevent or minimise exposure to dust.
Jurisdiction: Republic of Ireland
Commencement: 8th February 2019
Revokes: Radiological Protection Act, 1991 (Licensing Application and Fees) Regulations, 2007 (SI 654/2007)
Mini Summary
These Regulations outline the application process for the authorisation to carry out a practice involving the use of radiological sources and defines the applicable application fees.
Summary
These Regulations outline the application process for the authorisation to carry out a practice involving the use of radiological sources and also defines the applicable fees for making an application.
An authorisation will be given as either a certificate of registration or a licence. See Regulation the use of radiation sources for more information.
These Regulations do not apply to licences granted immediately before 8th February 2019; however, they will apply upon renewal of those licences.
Duties
Authorisation procedure
An application for a new, amended, or renewed licence must be made electronically via the online application portal (Environmental Data Exchange Network, maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at www.epa.ie).
Applications must be made no later than one month before commencement of the practice (radiological activity) or for existing practices, not later than one month before the licence expires.
A practice cannot continue beyond the expiry of a licence previously in force unless it has been renewed, or a registration in respect of the practice has been approved.
An application for an amendment to a registration or a licence must be made to the EPA before the implementation of the practice concerned. The practice may not be implemented until the registration or licence has been amended by the EPA in accordance with Regulation 12(2) of the Radiological Protection Act 1991 (Ionising Radiation) Regulations 2019 (€œIonising Radiation Regulations 2019€)
Information to be provided
The application for a new, or amendment of an authorisation, or the renewal of a licence must include the information specified in Schedule 1, Part 1.
The EPA may require additional information:
In the case of an application for a new, or amendment of, an authorisation, or renewal of a licence to carry out a practice of a class or type carried out immediately before the commencement of the Ionising Radiation Regulations 2019, the EPA may require that supporting information justifying the grounds for the practice continuing to be supplied.
The EPA may require supporting information related to the justification and implementation of the requirement in regulation 5(1)(b)* of the Ionising Radiation Regulations 2019, to be supplied.
*the justification requirement means a practice that falls within a class or type of practice which is justified by the EPA in regards to its social, health, environmental, or other benefits in relation to the detriment it may cause.
Applications for a practice or a class or type involving medical exposure may be required to submit evidence that it has been justified by the Health Information and Quality Authority in accordance with regulation 7 of the European Union (Basic Safety Standards for Protection Against Dangers Arising from Medical Exposure to Ionising Radiation) Regulations 2018.
Issue of licence or certificate of registration
The EPA will issue a certificate or licence by electronic means to the applicant. It will include defined particulars.
Expiry of an authorisation
Unless revoked, a licence shall normally expire 10 years after the date it was granted.
Registrations do not require renewal unless revoked.
(Differentiation between a licence or a registration is explained here: Graded Authorisation.)
Authorisation fee charging
A fee is charged by the EPA for making an application for authorisation or renewal of a licence, as indicated in Schedule 2.
The fee category is determined by the following:
Fees paid are not refundable by the EPA.
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Our intuitive online system helps manage your compliance obligations for environment, health & safety and food.
Jurisdiction: England, Scotland, Wales
Commencement: 6th April 2019
Amends: The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/93) as amended
Mini Summary
These Regulations implement EU Directive 2008/104/EC on temporary agency work. The Directive ensures that temporary agency workers receive basic work and employment conditions, such as; working hours, overtime, breaks, pay and holidays.
Amendment
These Regulations revoke regulations 10 (Permanent contracts providing for pay between assignments) and 11 (Calculating the minimum amount of pay) from The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 and remove any references to them in The Agency Workers Regulations 2019.
The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR) stipulated that after 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer, an agency worker is entitled to the same pay, as well as the same basic terms and conditions, as a permanent employee of that hirer. Under Regulations 10 and 11 of the AWR, agency workers could waive this right if they sign a “pay between assignments” contract, also known as a “Swedish derogation” contract with the Temporary Work Agency (TWA). This means that they become a permanent employee of the employment business (TWA) and are paid between individual assignments for up to 4 weeks. Their rate of pay is determined between themselves and the TWA and does not relate to that of the organisations pay of it’s employees in the role they may be employed to fulfil. The benefit to the agency worker is that they then have guaranteed employment and remuneration whether they are working on assignment for the TWA or not. The benefit for organisations is that they pay reduced fees for labour via the TWA.
Due to abuse of this system, where contracts were being used to avoid giving agency workers their equal pay entitlements, the Swedish derogation is being revoked.
TWA will still be able to offer between assignments contracts to agency workers after revocation, but workers will not be able to opt out of equal pay entitlements after 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer.
Businesses using the Swedish derogation contracts must issue a written statement to affected agency workers informing them of their revised entitlement in relation to pay. The change will take effect as the “pay between assignments” contracts come to an end.
Jurisdiction: England
Commencement: 17th April 2019
Amends:
The Animal Feed (Hygiene, Sampling, etc. and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2015
The Official Feed and Food Control (England) Regulations 2009
Mini Summary
These Regulations prohibit the intentional addition of radioactive substances to animal feed. They also prohibit the import or export of animal feed if radioactive substances have been intentionally added.
Summary
These Regulations implement the requirements set out in Article 21 of Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation, which sets out the basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation.
These Regulations prohibit the intentional addition of radioactive substances to animal feed. They also prohibit the import or export of animal feed to which radioactive substances have been intentionally added.
Duties
These Regulations make it an offence for a person to intentionally add any radioactive substance to animal feed during production.
No person shall intentionally add a radioactive substance in the production of animal feed.
No person shall import or export any animal feed if a radioactive substance has been intentionally added during the production of the animal feed.
Any person who is found intentionally adding a radioactive substance to animal feed shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine or face imprisonment. In some circumstances, both a fine and imprisonment may be appropriate.
The local authority in each area is the relevant feed authority and it is the duty of each council within its area to enforce these Regulations.
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Our intuitive online system helps manage your compliance obligations for environment, health & safety and food.
Jurisdiction: Scotland
Commencement: 23rd May 2019
Amends: The Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (Scotland) Regulations 2010
Mini Summary
These Regulations enforce Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001 which lays down rules for prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and scrapie in sheep and goats.
Amendment
Adjustments are made to correct out of date references to the 2010 Regulations. This is to ensure that definitions of certain EU Regulations are up to date:
New requirements are inserted to these Regulations for an inspector to serve notices and detailing what the additional notice can require a premises to do to comply. These include serving a notice on the person in charge of a slaughterhouse or a vehicle.
The following Schedules are updated:
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Our intuitive online system helps manage your compliance obligations for environment, health & safety and food.
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