Sector
Mining & Resources
Quarrying, mineral extraction, oil and gas exploration and resource industries.
Start here
See all 4Prepare for an HSE visit
HSE's silica crackdown means inspection visits are stepping up
Set up a quarrying and mining business
The broadest set-up route for extraction businesses
Set up a petroleum extraction business
Major-hazard petroleum extraction
Who regulates you
See all 18HSE (opens in a new tab)
Workplace health, safety, and welfare regulation across all industries. Enforces the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and related regulations. Investigates serious incidents …
Enforces 14 Acts this sector relies on.
NSTA (opens in a new tab)
Licenses and regulates the UK oil and gas, offshore hydrogen, and carbon storage industries. Issues petroleum production licences and CO2 storage licences. Formerly the …
Enforces 6 Acts this sector relies on.
OPRED (opens in a new tab)
Regulates environmental aspects of offshore oil and gas, carbon storage, and gas unloading/storage. Issues environmental permits, approves oil spill response plans, and oversees decommissioning …
Enforces 5 Acts this sector relies on.
NIEA (opens in a new tab)
Northern Ireland's environmental regulator. Part of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). Issues environmental permits, regulates waste and emissions, protects water …
Enforces 4 Acts this sector relies on.
NRW (opens in a new tab)
Principal environmental regulator for Wales. Combines functions of Environment Agency Wales, Countryside Council for Wales, and Forestry Commission Wales. Issues environmental permits, manages natural …
Enforces 4 Acts this sector relies on.
OEP (opens in a new tab)
Independent body established post-Brexit to scrutinise environmental law and investigate complaints about public authorities' failures to comply with environmental law in England and Northern …
Enforces 4 Acts this sector relies on.
Key legislation
See all 21What’s changing
Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage (Financing of Costs of Offshore Decommissioning) Regulations 2026
General rules
Common requirements that apply across industries. Conditions such as employing people or operating premises are shown only after they are known.
File your confirmation statement
File a confirmation statement every 12 months, within 14 days after your review period ends. Filing late is a criminal offence for the company and its officers.
Applies across industries.
General ruleVerify your identity for Companies House as a director or PSC
Yes, if you are an individual director or PSC of a UK company, or an individual director of an overseas company registered in the UK. Corporate directors and officers of corporate PSCs are not yet required to verify. The transition for existing directors and PSCs ends on 17 November 2026.
Applies across industries.
General ruleMandatory registrations every business must complete
Step-by-step guide to the registrations every business must complete before trading, regardless of sector. Covers HMRC tax registration, ICO data protection fee, mandatory insurance, and pension auto-enrolment.
Applies across industries.
General rulePre-trading compliance checklist
A concise yes/no checklist to verify you have completed all mandatory pre-trading requirements, including business registration, tax, insurance, licences, premises approvals, and data protection.
Applies across industries.
General ruleMeet your business waste duty of care
Understand your legal responsibilities when producing, storing, or disposing of business waste. Covers using registered waste carriers, completing waste transfer notes, and the stricter rules for hazardous waste.
Applies across industries.
General ruleCheck if you need to register for VAT
Find out if your business must register for VAT based on your taxable turnover. Covers the £90,000 threshold, what counts as taxable turnover, the rolling 12-month test, and when voluntary registration makes sense.
Applies across industries.
All guidance for mining & resources
Compliance & Legal
8
Coal mining compliance checklist
Use this checklist to confirm you have met every regulatory obligation that applies to your coal or lignite mining operation — from workplace health and safety through to coal-mining licences, mine and quarry safety, explosives and environmental permits.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Set up and run a safe mining support service
Mining support services — drilling, well services, site preparation, pumping and draining — handle hazardous substances, flammable hydrocarbons and heavy equipment. This is the universal spine: it takes you through your core workplace health and safety duties, COSHH and DSEAR controls, work equipment safety, manual handling, fire safety, RIDDOR reporting, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Set up and run a safe metal ore mine
Mining metal ores — iron, copper, tin, lead, zinc, tungsten, uranium and thorium — is high-hazard work. This is the universal spine: it takes you through your core workplace health and safety duties, the Mines Regulations 2014 mine-safety regime, control of hazardous substances, work equipment safety, manual handling, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Set up and run a safe petroleum extraction operation
Petroleum extraction — crude oil and natural gas — handles large inventories of flammable and toxic hydrocarbons under pressure. This is the universal spine: it takes you through your core workplace health and safety duties, COSHH controls for hydrogen sulphide, benzene, mercury and NORM, DSEAR controls for explosive atmospheres, work equipment safety, manual handling, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Set up and run a safe quarry or mine
Operating a quarry or mine — stone, sand, gravel, clay, salt, peat or chemical minerals — is high-hazard work. This is the universal spine: it takes you through your core workplace health and safety duties, the Quarries Regulations 1999 quarry-safety regime, control of respirable crystalline silica and dust under COSHH, work equipment safety, manual handling, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Set up and run a safe coal mining operation
Every coal or lignite mining operation must meet universal workplace duties before it tackles the sector-specific mining safety, licensing and environmental regimes. This guide covers the eight foundational obligations — health and safety, COSHH, work equipment, manual handling, fire, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Get the licences, permits and meet major-hazard duties for petroleum extraction
Petroleum extraction requires a petroleum production licence from the NSTA, site-specific permits and compliance with major-hazard controls. This guide covers the petroleum production licence, the offshore safety-case regime, COMAH for onshore establishments, environmental permits for onshore installations, OPRED offshore oil-pollution permits and upstream petroleum taxation.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Get the permits and consents for quarrying and mining
Before you open, extend or resume a quarry or mine you need minerals planning permission, and your operation may need environmental permits for discharges and mineral processing, an explosives licence for blasting, COMAH controls for chemical minerals, a habitats assessment for peat extraction, and — for underground rock-salt — the Mines Regulations 2014. This guide takes you through each consent in turn.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Show 13 more
Meet your coal mining regulatory duties
Coal and lignite extraction in Great Britain requires a coal-mining operation licence, compliance with the mines or quarries safety regime depending on your working method, explosives authorisations if you blast, and environmental permits for waste and discharges. This guide covers every sector-specific regulatory duty.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Metal ore mining: compliance checklist
Use this checklist to confirm your metal ore mining business meets its obligations. Work through the universal mine-operation items every mine shares, then the permits and consents for your specific operation. If you answer no to any item that applies to you, follow the linked guide before you proceed.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Quarrying and mining: compliance checklist
Use this checklist to confirm your quarrying or mining business meets its obligations. Work through the universal quarry-operation items every site shares, then the permits and consents for your specific operation. If you answer no to any item that applies to you, follow the linked guide before you proceed.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Meet your worksite compliance duties for mining support
When you provide support services on an offshore installation, at a mine or at a quarry, you must comply with the site-specific safety regimes at the worksite. This guide covers the offshore safety-case and well-construction duties for petroleum support contractors and the Mines and Quarries Regulations duties for mining support contractors.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Mining support service: compliance checklist
Use this checklist to confirm your mining support service business meets its obligations. Work through the universal workplace items every support contractor shares, then the worksite compliance duties that apply where you work. If you answer no to any item that applies to you, follow the linked guide before you proceed.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Petroleum extraction: compliance checklist
Use this checklist to confirm your petroleum extraction business meets its obligations. Work through the universal workplace items, then the licensing, permits, major-hazard duties and upstream taxation. If you answer no to any item that applies to you, follow the linked guide before you proceed.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Get the permits and consents for metal ore mining
Before you open, extend or resume a metal ore mine you need planning permission, environmental permits for mine-water discharge and extractive waste, and — where blasting is used — an explosives licence. Uranium and thorium ore mining additionally needs a radioactive-substances environmental permit. This guide takes you through each consent in turn.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Which coal mining rules apply to you
If you operate or plan to operate a coal or lignite extraction site in Great Britain, you must comply with mining-specific licensing, safety and environmental regimes on top of the universal workplace duties that bind every employer. This guide introduces the rules and routes you to the detail.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Which petroleum extraction regulations apply to your business
Petroleum extraction businesses — crude oil and natural gas, onshore and offshore — operate under a petroleum production licence, a process-safety stack and upstream petroleum taxation. Start here to find which guides apply to you.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Which metal ore mining regulations apply to your business
Metal ore mining — iron, copper, tin, lead, zinc, tungsten, uranium and thorium — carries mine-safety, explosives, environmental-permit and planning obligations on top of the general workplace duties every employer shares. Start here to find which guides apply to you.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Which mining support service regulations apply to your business
Mining support service businesses — drilling, well services, site preparation, pumping and draining for mining and petroleum operators — carry their own health and safety duties on top of the operator's. Start here to find which guides apply to you.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Which quarrying and mining regulations apply to your business
Quarrying and mining stone, sand, gravel, clay, salt, peat and chemical minerals carries the Quarries Regulations 1999 quarry-safety regime, planning permission, environmental permits and — where you blast — explosives licensing, on top of the general workplace duties every employer shares. Start here to find which guides apply to you.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
Get authorisation for a water activity in Scotland (EASR)
How to get authorisation for any activity affecting surface water or groundwater in Scotland — abstraction, impoundment, engineering in or near a water body, and discharges. Since 1 November 2025 water activities are authorised under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (EASR), which replaced the Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR 2011) framework. Covers the four-tier authorisation system (General Binding Rules, notification, registration, permit), pre-application advice, fees, and enforcement, all administered by SEPA.
Relevant across several parts of this sector.
Sector-Specific
2
Radioactive substances and peat extraction in Northern Ireland: DAERA consents
The Northern Ireland consents that mining, quarrying and peat businesses can miss. Keeping or using radioactive material, or accumulating or disposing of radioactive waste, needs a certificate from DAERA under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993, which still applies in Northern Ireland. Extracting peat needs planning permission with environmental impact assessment, a habitats assessment and, on protected land, DAERA consent.
Relevant across several parts of this sector.
Understand deep land rights and petroleum licensing for onshore energy
How deep level land access rights work for petroleum and geothermal exploration. Covers the 300m depth threshold, PEDL licensing, hydraulic fracturing consent requirements, and the 11 statutory safeguards. Includes differences between England/Wales and Scotland.
Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.
All journeys
Set up a coal mining operation
A step-by-step path through the regulations for coal and lignite extraction in Great Britain. Start by identifying which …
Set up a metal ore mining business
Learning path for metal ore mining businesses — iron, copper, tin, lead, zinc, tungsten, uranium and thorium. Work …
Set up a mining support service business
Learning path for mining support service businesses — drilling, well services, site preparation, pumping and draining for mining …
Set up a quarrying and mining business
Learning path for quarrying and mining businesses — stone, sand, gravel, clay, salt, peat and chemical minerals. Work …
Subsectors
SIC 2007 divisions covered by this sector.