A consultation on the abolition of more than half of the
UK's health and safety rules is to be launched by the
Government following an independent review.
The Government-commissioned review, led by Professor Lofstedt of
King's College London, looked at the scope for "reducing
the burden of health and safety regulation on business while
maintaining the progress made in improving health and safety
outcomes".
To view the article in full, please see below:
Full Article
Law Now – Consultation launched on abolition of Health
and Safety rules
A consultation on the abolition of more than half of the UK's
health and safety rules is to be launched by the Government
following an independent review.
The Government-commissioned review, led by Professor Lofstedt of
King's College London, looked at the scope for "reducing
the burden of health and safety regulation on business while
maintaining the progress made in improving health and safety
outcomes".
The Lofstedt review has concluded that the problems lie more with
the interpretation and application of regulations rather than their
content, with this leading to several instances where regulations
aimed at covering real risks are being used to cover trivial ones.
Professor Lofstedt makes several recommendations aimed at
streamlining health and safety regulation and cutting down on, what
is seen as, needless bureaucracy.
One of the key recommendations made is for an exemption from
health and safety law to be introduced for self-employed people
whose work poses no risk of harm to others. The Lofstedt review
suggests that this exemption could benefit up to a million people.
The review also recommends enacting legislation giving the HSE
responsibility to direct the near 400 local authorities who
currently deal with monitoring low-risk environments in a move to
improve consistency in the application of health and safety
regulation.
The most important change however may come from the
Government's approach to streamline and simplify health and
safety regulation. Upon the publication of the review, the
Government have said they will launch a consultation into the
abolition of more than half of the 200 or so regulations currently
in place over the next three years – with the first
regulations being removed within the next few months. Specific
regulations which the review recommends are revoked include the
Notification of Tower Cranes Regulations 2010 and the Construction
(Head Protection) Regulations 1989. Furthermore Professor Lofstedt
recommends that several regulations are amended, clarified or
reviewed, including the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and
Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR); the Construction
(Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and the Work at Height
Regulations 2005.
One thing the report does note is that the ability to reduce
regulation in the UK will be heavily limited by the duty to comply
with European law. What is therefore suggested by Professor
Lofstedt is that the UK Government engages closely with the
European Commission going forward to try and ensure that the
correct approach is taken.
The reaction from the business world has been largely positive with
Dr Adam Marshall, director of policy at the British Chambers of
Commerce saying businesses would welcome the conclusions aimed at
reducing some of the unnecessary burdens placed on them.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) also
reacted positively, with chief executive Tom Mullarkey approving of
the findings of Professor Lofstedt. He said the RoSPA were glad
that the report showed that the UK system was largely fit for
purpose, although they agreed that there was always scope for
improvement and a reduction in repetitive and unnecessary
regulation. The RoSPA were also pleased with the recommendation
that the HSE control local authority enforcement of certain
regulations, although they warned caution on the implementation of
an exemption from health and safety law for the
self-employed.
Further positive reaction came for Sir Merrick Cockell, chairman of
the Local Government Association, who said the organisation was
looking forward to working more closely with the HSE going forward,
with a more consistent approach being developed.
The reaction has not all been positive however with Union bosses
slamming the proposals. The TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber
has said the Government should forget about tinkering with
regulations and focus on taking steps to improve Britain's
health and safety record. George Guy, from the building
worker's union Ucatt, was also sceptical, saying that the focus
was on reducing burdens on businesses rather than on improving the
safety of workers.
The Institution of Occupation Safety and Health had a lukewarm
reaction to the news saying that although they were in favour of a
more simplistic approach to regulation, they could not "see
the scope for reducing the number by half without potentially
putting workers and the public under increased risk of injury or
ill health".
The full text of Professor Loftstedt's review can be found at
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/lofstedt-report.pdf
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 01/12/2011.
