TD,
I have no issue with the MOD's requirements re duty of care and H&SWA, and that it has been lacking in this (airworthiness) and other areas - look at the various crown censures that have been issued over even the last few years.
My concern with this is that the HSE have divorced themselves from airworthiness in particular and functional safety in general. Therefore, wrt to the circular, the information therein is not in the same context. Also, while it says that it is valid until 2010, is that reasonable? Would a 10 yr old "audit report" be considered valid in any other context? Next year will the HSE consider that they need to change their policy? - I bet not.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the H&SWA and duty of care isn't a valid line of approach, just that whereas the HSE are there to police industry, they don't police the MOD in the same way.
sw