29 Jan 2007 : Column WA1

Aviation: Contaminated Air

The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether United Kingdom airlines are required to produce risk assessments relating to exposures of passengers and crew to contaminated air in aircraft under health and safety legislation; if so, by which official body these are examined and approved; and whether the risk assessments are publicly available. [HL1389]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require UK-based airlines to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees and of others, such as passengers, affected by their work.

There is no requirement to submit risk assessments for examination and approval by an official body or make them publicly available. Employers may, however, be asked to produce risk assessments for scrutiny in the course of specific inspection or enforcement activity by an official body.

The official bodies concerned with the application of general health and safety duties on aircraft in the UK are the Civil Aviation Authority and the Health and Safety Executive (or the Health and Safety Executive (Northern Ireland)).