Health and Safety Laboratory

The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSE Laboratory or HSL Buxton) is a large 550-acre research site in rural High Peak, Derbyshire, south of Buxton.

It provides training courses in subjects such as Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 (COMAH) and DSEAR (Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations, 2002).

[1] The Safety in Mines Research Board had been formed in 1921, and it bought the site in Harpur Hill in 1924.

At the SMRE in 1956, Herbert Eisner discovered how high-expansion foam can put out fires.

The Occupational Medicine Laboratory opened in London in 1959, and this merged with the site in Derbyshire to form the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Research and Laboratory Services Division (RLSD).

Building completed in 2005
A bunker at the laboratory
Building a new laboratory in 2011