Health and safety reform - good or bad?
Health and safety reform - good or bad?
Health and safety reform - good or bad?
The Government is seeking to reform health and safety laws, regulations and procedures. These measures touch all our lives, as they involve safety procedures designed to protect not only employees at their place of work but members of the public during the course of everyday life.
The law relating to accidents at work and safety of the public can be complex. New regulations have been announced by the EU and at national level, at a rapacious frequency over the last twenty years.
This area of personal injury law has seen much criticism from politicians, media and the public. "Over-complexity" and "bureaucratic red tape" are by-words for critics when the topic is discussed.
Whilst compliance of statutory regulations can be expensive and time consuming for employers' and all organizations (public and private), we take the view that the safety of employees and the public must be of paramount concern for all. Accidents and ensuing injuries are generally caused due to failure to adhere to health and safety law. The cost of, for example, adequately training employees to lift heavy objects or the proper use of equipment, cannot outweigh the human cost of potential life-changing injuries, should these safeguards not be in place.
The Prime Minister, appointed the Rt. Hon. Lord Young of Graffham as Adviser on health and safety law and practice. On 15th October 2010 Lord Young, following his review of the operation of health and safety laws, published his report, "Common Sense, Common Safety". The Government accepted Lord Young's recommendations in full.
Those recommendations included:
improving the public perception of health and safety
ensuring it is taken seriously by employers and the general public
reducing the burden of bureaucracy on business.
Lord Young resigned in November 2010, therefore responsibility for implementing the above recommendations now rests with the Rt. Hon. Chris Grayling MP, Minister for Employment.
Indeed, the Government have published further plans for major health and safety reform, entitled, "Good Health and Safety, Good for Everyone".
The plans' objectives are:
Reduce the number of UK inspections by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) by one third.
Responsible employers will no longer be subject to automatic health and safety inspections. The HSE Inspectorate will be instructed to focus on high risk locations, such as major energy facilities, and rogue employers who endanger the safety of employees and the public.
To eradicate unqualified "cowboy" health and safety consultants by the creation of a new register of qualified consultants. The register will be made available to all businesses.
To abolish unnecessary and burdensome health and safety law by way of a review of all existing law. Professor E Lofstedt, of King's College London, will chair the review. Its findings are expected to be published in the autumn.
To assist small and low risk businesses achieve a fundamental level of health and safety management, free of red tape, a new online package, "Health and Safety Made Simple", will be created by the HSE.
Chris Grayling MP, Minister for Employment, commented: "Of course it is right to protect employees in the workplace, but Britain's health and safety culture is also stifling business and holding back economic growth".
It remains to be seen whether these far-reaching measures will achieve the Government's goals. The creation of a new register for qualified health and safety consultants certainly appears to be a positive step, as does the proposed online risk assessment tools for employers. Unfortunately, we fear that the review of existing health and safety law may be a futile exercise and a waste of tax-payers' money. A good proportion of the existing legislation is derived from EU law, which is binding on the UK. To dispense with it and effectively turn heel on Strasbourg may not be in our best interests.
However, we cast a somewhat cynical eye on the proposal to reduce the number of HSE inspections by at least a third. If "responsible employers" are no longer to face automatic inspections, how are we to foresee that, in the absence of a potential unannounced visit from the HSE Inspectorate, many employers may fall from grace and become "irresponsible".
We sincerely hope that, in the quest to stimulate growth in UK businesses, the lives of employees and the public, are not put at risk.
If you have been injured at your place of work through no fault of your own and think you may be entitled to claim compensation for your injuries and other losses, please call us on 0800 028 9998 or submit details of your accident via our online claim form. One of our specialist accident at work advisors will be happy to discuss your claim with you, on a free, no obligation basis.
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