Government Vows to Restore Clarity to Health and Safety Regime

1st December 2011

The Government has announced an immediate consultation on the abolition, consolidation and further review of large numbers of health and safety regulations and aims to remove the first rules from the statute books within a few months.

The announcement follows the publication of Professor Ragnar Löfstedt's review of health and safety legislation and the Government's response.

A major change is the establishment from January 1st of a new challenge panel, which will allow businesses to get the decisions of health and safety inspectors overturned immediately if they have got it wrong. However, a Government spokesperson confirmed that this is the Government's interpretation of a specific recommendation in the report, which made no mention of inspectors' decisions being challenged; rather, Professor Löfstedt proposes that the Government look at introducing a challenge mechanism that allows for cases of incorrect and over-application of health and safety legislation to be addressed.

In general, Professor Löfstedt found that the problem lies less with the regulations themselves and more with the way they are interpreted and applied. Nevertheless, noting that the sheer mass of laws is a key concern for businesses, the report recommends that the HSE undertakes and completes a program to consolidate sector-specific regulations by April 2015.

In supporting the recommendation, the Government said that, combined with ongoing HSE plans, the consolidation program would reduce the number of health and safety regulations by more than 50 per cent.

The HSE has also been told to draw up proposals for changing the law to remove health and safety burdens from the self-employed in low-risk occupations, and whose activities represent no risk to other people. The Government said this would bring Britain in line with other European countries and will free around 1 million people from "red tape without impacting on health and safety outcomes". It also insisted that where activities of self-employed people could pose a risk to themselves or others - for example, in the building trades - health and safety laws would continue to apply.

Although very few laws are to be revoked, the review recommends amendments to a number of regulations, including: the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 - to remove the requirement for the HSE to approve the training and qualifications of appointed first-aid personnel; RIDDOR 1995 - to provide clarity for businesses on how to comply; and the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 - regarding the regularity of PAT testing.

In addition, to provide further clarity, especially for smaller businesses, the HSE is recommended to review all its Approved Codes of Practice and to have completed an initial review by June next year. The role of the HSE in relation to local authorities should also be significantly strengthened, says Professor Löfstedt, not only to address inconsistencies in enforcement but also to ensure it is targeted at workplaces that present the highest risks.

Professor Löfstedt said: "A transfer of responsibility to HSE may risk losing the synergies with other local-authority enforcement responsibilities but it will ensure that activity is independent of local priorities and concerns and clarify the distinction between health and safety and other regulatory issues, such as food safety and environmental protection. This will, in turn, provide greater assurance and consistency for businesses."

On Europe, the Professor found no evidence of gold-plating but conceded that the scope for changing health and safety regulation is severely limited by the requirement to implement EU law.

Finally, while recognising that the Government is in the midst of undertaking an overhaul of the civil justice system, the review also says the status of pre-action protocols needs to be clarified and strict liability provisions should be reviewed. The Professor found that, often, employers are encouraged to settle compensation claims if all the paperwork related to pre-action standard disclosure lists is not in place, regardless of their overall compliance record and despite the fact that minor non-compliance should not be viewed too strictly.

To download the full report, Reclaiming health and safety for all: An independent review of health and safety regulation, please visit: www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/health-and-safety/#review