New laws on working safely with explosives and compressed acetylene gas will take effect next month.
Two new sets of consolidated regulations – The Explosives Regulations 2014 (ER) 
and The Acetylene Safety (England and Wales and Scotland) Regulations 2014 (ASR) come into force on 1 October.
The revised regulations, which apply to the explosives industry and those who manufacture and store compressed acetylene gas, will help to reduce the regulatory burden on business and regulators by clarifying and simplifying requirements.
They will replace the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) for the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005, a number of legislative instruments and the current explosives guidance.
Consolidation was one of the recommendations of the review of health and safety undertaken by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt.
More information on the review of the legislation and HSE’s work with stakeholders can be found at: