The Regulation Of Drones: A Health And Safety Perspective

The events at Gatwick airport in 2018, and at Heathrow in 2019 demonstrated the impact of drone misuse and highlighted the extent to which drone use is currently under-regulated. Following the coming into force of the Air Navigation (Amendment) Order 2018 on 30 November 2019, this positioned has changed somewhat. The Order requires those who manage a drone of more than 250 grams to register it with the Civil Aviation Authority ("CAA") before use. Those responsible for a drone can include individuals and companies, and pilots of such drones will need to complete a competency test.

Given the expanding use of drones in commercial operations, the potential hazards as well as the emerging nature of this technology, regulation was inevitable. It will be interesting to see if the law keeps pace with the developing technical capabilities of drones. In the meantime it is worth considering both the benefits and risks of this new technology and the issues Health and Safety managers should be aware of in terms of future regulation.

Benefits of using drones

The obvious benefit of a drone is that they can place a machine in a dangerous situation rather than a human. For example, they can be used to conduct close inspections of dangerous structures or inaccessible plants and can sweep an entire site to identify issues. For these reasons drones are already widely used by large corporations and public utility companies, and it is easy to anticipate the scope for drone use will continue to expand.

Risks

Of course there are risks that come with emerging technologies, particularly those operating at height with the potential to strike people or property. This brings with it the corresponding risk of civil or criminal proceedings, to say nothing of potential privacy and data protection issues arising from the taking and storage of video footage. We have summarised below some of the ways in which the use of drones may be regulated in the future.

The CAA

Failure to comply with the rules that came into force in November for registration and pilot testing of drones will result in a maximum £1,000 fine, and flying a drone without the required commercial permission could result in a maximum £2,500 fine. If you are convicted of an offence involving misusing a drone in the air, a Court can order the forfeiture of the drone itself - which could be more costly than a fine.

The HSE

If the HSE deems a drone to be work equipment, there may be a risk of breaches of strict...