Have your say on information disclosure

The HSE has begun a consultation on bringing Section 28 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) into line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

Section 28 of the HSWA restricts how the HSC and HSE can release information that people or organisations have been obliged to provide. These restrictions will no longer apply when the FOIA comes fully into force on 1 January 2005; from that date there will be a general right of access to information held by public bodies, subject to some exemptions. The HSE says that information covered by Section 28 can be safeguarded, where it needs to be, using these exemptions.

The consultation closes on 21 May 2004. Contact Keith Pritchard on tel: 020 7717 6499, or fill in the online questionnaire at www. hse.gov.uk/consult/live.htm