Glossary: H

Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

This government body is responsible for the regulation of almost all the risks to health and safety arising from work activity in Britain.

HLUD

Groundsure’s Historical Land Use Database (HLUD) is a database of c.6 million digitised land use features derived from a comprehensive collection of 1.5 million historical Ordnance Survey maps. Potentially contaminative land use features have been identified and then digitised (essentially drawn around) to create a unique and incredibly valuable, searchable database.

Hydrocarbons

A class of chemical compounds containing only the elements hydrogen and carbon. Petroleum hydrocarbons are obtained from naturally occurring reservoirs of crude petroleum, formed from the natural breakdown of plant and animal debris. The most common petroleum hydrocarbons include petrol, diesel, heating oils and lubricants.