Health and Safety Executive, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch inked a MoU for health and safety enforcement activities and accident investigation at the water margin and offshore.
In fact, the purpose of the agreement is to ensure effective collaborative working between these organisations where their duties for health and safety enforcement and accident investigation overlap at the water margin, offshore and on inland waterways in and around the United Kingdom.
What is more, the MoU outlines the principles of co-operation to be adopted between HSE, MCA and the MAIB while seeks to promote effective collaborative working (e.g. coordination of regulatory activity and knowledge sharing), while recognising and respecting the different regulatory and other legal frameworks within which each
organisation operates.
The principal purpose of collaborative working is to enhance the effectiveness of HSE’s, MCA’s and MAIB’s delivery of their operational and policy objectives. This will be achieved through:
- a common understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities (e.g. who will be the lead regulator for the range of complex offshore activities) and good regulatory practice;
- regular sharing of knowledge in areas of mutual interest;
- agreeing consistent standards and interpretation of regulatory requirements as far as practicable; and
- close co-operation on activities and projects of strategic or commercial relevance.
As explained, partners will undertake to use their best endeavours to co-operate effectively to enable and assist each other to carry out their responsibilities andfunctions, and to maintain effective working arrangements for that purpose.
Such cooperation should avoid difficulties which might arise from uncoordinated approaches by the organisations (e.g. inconsistent standards, policies, and regulations, uncertainty over jurisdiction and duplication of inspection, accident investigation and enforcement activity).
