Dangerous Substances Act 2004

This section applies if an inspector believes, on reasonable grounds, that a provision of this Act has been, is being or may be contravened in relation to a dangerous substance.

Note A reference to an Act includes a reference to statutory instruments made or in force under the Act, including any regulation and any law or instrument applied, adopted or incorporated by the Act (see Legislation Act, s 104).

The inspector may ask a responsible person for the dangerous substance to enter into an agreement (a compliance agreement) in relation to the contravention.

If the responsible person agrees to enter into a compliance agreement, the agreement must—

state that it is a compliance agreement under this Act; and

state the contravention of this Act in relation to which the agreement is entered into; and

state the period for which the agreement is to operate; and

state the measures to be taken by the responsible person or anyone else to ensure this Act is complied with and the times within which the measures must be taken; and

include a statement to the effect that each person who is required to comply with a duty under this Act must comply with the duty whether or not someone else may also be responsible for complying with the duty; and

be signed by the inspector and the responsible person.

Examples of measures for par (d)

1 the dangerous substance is to be handled only by people with a stated qualification

2 the substance is to be handled at temperatures below 5°C

3 repair or replace particular premises or plant

4 develop, implement or amend a safety management system

The compliance agreement may include anything else the inspector and the relevant responsible person consider appropriate.

The inspector must give a copy of the compliance agreement to the relevant responsible person.