HSL is an Agency of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and is known internationally as a centre of excellence for health and safety research and incident investigations.

The scope of HSL's work requires a diverse range of talents. The majority of the 350 or so people employed by HSL are scientists or technical specialists across a wide range of disciplines. These disciplines include chemistry, physics, engineering and materials science, occupational psychology, risk assessment, ergonomics, biomedical sciences and specialist photography.

HSL's scientists often work in multi-disciplinary teams to carry out research and investigations in areas such as fire, explosions and process safety, chemical hazards and exposure, engineering control, work environment, air quality, occupational health, behavioural and social sciences and risk assessment.

As a centre of excellence, HSL also has numerous collaborative links and opportunities for exchanging information with other research establishments, professional institutions and universities in the UK and abroad.

Location

HSL's main location is a 550 acre site near Buxton, Derbyshire, UK. We also have a number of field stations across Great Britain.

Our Buxton site is home to a state-of-the-art, purpose-built laboratory, completed in November 2004. On this site we also have extensive trials areas where we are able to undertake large-scale experiments, particularly in the areas of fires and explosion safety.

Location map (304 KB)

Further information about HSL's work and facilities