Health & safety system shake up

A package of changes to Britain's health and safety system designed to support the Government's growth agenda and to ease regulatory burdens on business have been announced by employment minister Chris Grayling .

Under the plans responsible employers will no longer face automatic health and safety inspections. Instead inspectors will concentrate on high risk locations and on rogue employers who are putting the safety of their staff and the public at risk cutting the number of inspections carried out by at least a third. Rogue employers will also have to pay for the costs of an investigation into their activities.

Alongside this ministers are taking steps to eliminate “cowboy” health and safety consultants through the launch of a new consultants register (see details below). The Government is also launching a review of all existing health and safety law with a view to scrapping measures deemed unnecessary. The review will be chaired by risk management specialist, Professor Ragnar E Lofstedt, of King's College London and its findings will be published in the autumn.

A new online package, Health and Safety Made Simple, has been launched to help small and low risk employers find the help they need in one place. Announcing the reforms, Grayling said: “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...By reducing unnecessary red tape we can encourage businesses to come and invest in the UK, creating jobs and opportunities when we need them most.”

Commenting on the reforms, head of health & safety at EEF Steve Pointer, welcomed efforts to: “review whole areas of legislation, rather than piecemeal changes to individual regulations.” Pointer added: “Whilst much health and safety legislation is fit for purpose some areas remain a problem and this review has the potential to resolve anomalies, reduce burdens and so help boost growth.”

Discussing the implications of the reforms for the safety community as a whole, RoSPA's occupational safety adviser Roger Bibbings, suggested: “With a greater emphasis at the HSE on reactive enforcement and fewer resources available for its awareness-raising role, there is now an even stronger case for it to pool its resources and work in partnership with bodies like RoSPA, local health and safety groups and many others in the health and safety community that stand ready and willing to help,” said Bibbings.

The TUC however expressed grave concerns over the proposals, with general secretary Brendan Barber saying: “Employers need to know that there is the possibility of a safety inspector visiting, otherwise there will be no incentive for them to ensure they are protecting their workers.

“Removing proactive inspections from a large number of workplaces mean that employers can get away with ignoring the law until they kill or seriously injure someone,” warned Barber. See: www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/ good-health-and-safety.pdf for more details.