ABSTRACT
Section 84 of the Act provides that it does not (subject to minor exceptions) apply to Northern Ireland; therefore it applies to Great Britain, that is to say England (including Wales) and Scotland. Separate provision has been made for similar rules to apply to Northern Ireland. Section 84(3) enables the Act to be extended, by Order in Council, outside of Great Britain. The most important use of this provision has been to apply it offshore to oil and gas installations on the Continental Shelf of the North Sea. The current order is the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (Application Outside Great Britain) Order 1995. Until the enquiry which followed the catastrophic fire and explosion on the Piper Alpha installation the 1974 Act was applied in parallel with the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971 and the Department of Energy was the lead safety enforcement agency for offshore installations.
