Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

49 Adaptation of enactments to metric units or appropriate metric units

(1) The appropriate Minister may by regulations amend—

(a) any of the relevant statutory provisions ; or

(b) any provision of an enactment which relates to any matter relevant to any of the general purposes of this Part but is not among the relevant statutory provisions ; or

(c) any provision of an instrument made or having effect under any such enactment as is mentioned in the preceding paragraph,

by substituting an amount or quantity expressed in metric units for an amount or quantity not so expressed or by substituting an amount or quantity expressed in metric units of a description specified in the regulations for an amount or quantity expressed in metric units of a different description.

(2) The amendments shall be such as to preserve the effect of the provisions mentioned except to such extent as in the opinion of the appropriate Minister is necessary to obtain amounts expressed in convenient and suitable terms.

(3) Regulations made by the appropriate Minister under this subsection may, in the case of a provision which falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) above and contains words which refer to units other than metric units, repeal those words if the appropriate Minister is of the opinion that those words could be omitted without altering the effect of that provision.

(4) In this section the appropriate Minister means—

(a) in relation to any provision not relating exclusively to agricultural operations the Secretary of State ;

(b) in relation to any provision relating exclusively to the relevant agricultural purposes that applies to Great Britain or the United Kingdom the Agriculture Ministers;

(c) in relation to any provision so relating that applies to England and Wales only, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;

(d) in relation to any provision so relating that applies to Scotland only, the Secretary of State.