England · Sources reviewed 14 October 2026
Health and safety in England
Use this context when discussing a Safety Figure deployment at a workplace in England. It is general information for planning, not a determination of your duties. Have competent health and safety and privacy advisers review the requirements for your operation. Software records support the work; they do not certify compliance or represent HSE approval.
Risk assessment, measures and follow-up
England sits within the Great Britain framework of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The PUWER and RIDDOR guidance below also relates to Great Britain. Northern Ireland has separate legislation and reporting arrangements, so these pages should not be applied there without checking the appropriate guidance. HSE explains risk management as identifying hazards, assessing the potential harm and taking steps to remove hazards or control risks. The assessment is part of ongoing risk management.
For a loading-bay workflow, establish who may be harmed, examine the actual vehicle and pedestrian movements and agree appropriate controls with the responsible team. Safety Figure can hold the observations, assessment, agreed owner, target date and follow-up evidence. A planned lower score or a completed task does not establish that a measure is effective; review the actual operating conditions and the result.
Work equipment, contractors and permits to work
Under HSE's PUWER inspection guidance, inspection needs and intervals follow the equipment's risks, conditions and relevant manufacturer recommendations. Not every item requires a formal inspection. Where an inspection record is required, HSE says to retain it at least until the next inspection; electronic records must be secure and available to an enforcing authority on request. A machine record can help organise instructions, checks and history, but your competent team determines the appropriate inspection and any additional equipment-specific duties.
For a maintenance contractor, assess the job and contractor suitability, exchange the relevant site information and agree supervision and coordination. A document set helps track what has been submitted and reviewed; it does not replace these responsibilities. For work needing a permit-to-work system, define the job, precautions, authorisation, handover and close-out. HSE states that a permit does not replace risk assessment or make the job safe by itself. In Safety Figure's current permit workflow, missing-document warnings can remain while approval proceeds. Assess that behaviour against your own procedure before using it for operational work.
Incident reporting and worker privacy
Internal near-miss reporting helps the team investigate and learn, but not every near miss is reportable under RIDDOR. The responsible person must check the applicable incident category, conditions, reporting route and deadline against current HSE guidance. Certain dangerous occurrences are reportable even without an injury. Creating or closing a Safety Figure incident record does not submit a report to HSE or discharge a reporting duty.
Before using camera observations, voice or journey data involving workers, define a specific purpose and lawful basis, assess necessity and proportionality, inform the people affected and set access and retention rules. The ICO says a data protection impact assessment is required before processing likely to create high risks, and recommends it as a useful assessment more broadly. Employee consent is not automatically an appropriate basis because of the employment power imbalance. The ICO currently marks this guidance as under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act; check the latest position with your privacy adviser before deployment. A public website's cookie preferences do not authorise workplace monitoring.