Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

HSWA definition

What does HSWA mean? Shorthand for the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the principal occupational health and safety statute in Great Britain. In practice, lawyers use HSWA to refer to the statutory framework imposing general duties on employers, the self-employed and those in control of premises to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of employees and non-employees, and to the associated enforcement regime. The abbreviation is not defined in the Act but is standard practitioner usage. HSWA 1974 enables extensive secondary regulations (for example, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999) and creates...

Self-employed under HSWA 1974: scope of s 2 and s 3(2) duties, prescribed undertakings, 'risk to others' test, offences and penalties

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Practice notes

Under UK health and safety law, self-employed individuals must meet health and safety duties where:

they hire people to work for them, and/or
the Activity being carried out is a prescribed undertaking, or
the activity being carried out creates a risk to the health and safety of others

Practically, this means self-employed persons who have no workers, do not undertake a prescribed activity, and whose work presents no potential risk to others are exempt from the obligations set by health and safety law. Put simply, if your solo work neither employs others nor endangers anyone, and is not prescribed, these legal duties will not apply.

When is someone classified as 'self-employed' under health and safety law?

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA 1974) states a person is regarded as self-employed if they work for gain or reward other than under a Contract of employment, whether or not they themselves employ others. Therefore, anyone working on their own account, not under a contract of employment, is treated as self-employed for health and safety purposes. This description is somewhat plainer and shorter than some, for example the sense applied to the term by HM Revenue and Customs for...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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