The Chair and Chief Executive of the British Safety Council this morning attended a stakeholder meeting at which the Work and Pensions Minister, Chris Grayling, who has responsibility for health and safety, set out the next stage of the government’s proposals for health and safety reform.
At the meeting, attended by representatives from business, trade unions, health and safety organisations and HSE, the government outlined a series of further reforms which the Minister said herald, “a new start for health and safety regulation for Britain’s businesses.” The detail of the reform proposals will be put out to public consultation.
The main proposals announced by the government are to:
- modernise the health and safety inspection regime with inspectors concentrating on high risk locations and irresponsible employers
- take steps to eliminate ‘cowboy’ health and safety consultants through the operation of the occupational health and safety consultants register which has already received over 1,500 registrations
- make health and safety advice and guidance for small and low risk businesses simple, accessible and bureaucracy-free
- review existing health and safety law with a view to scrapping measures that are an unnecessary burden on business. This review will be chaired by Professor Ragnar E Lofstedt of King’s College, London, supported by an independent advisory panel and will publish its findings in Autumn this year
Commenting on the proposals Lynda Armstrong, Chair of the Trustees of the British Safety Council, said,
“I welcome the continuing momentum initiated by Lord Young to put common sense back into health and safety. We have always encouraged a professional, proportionate and knowledgeable approach to managing safety in the workplace. These recommendations support our aims and we look forward to consulting our members on the proposals. Their views will help inform our submission to government.”
The latest set of changes to workplace health and safety guidance aim to ease some of the administrative burden often faced by businesses. But employers should avoid interpreting the reduction in inspections as a reason to lose focus on workplace safety. It’s vital that all employers make the necessary efforts to ensure their health and safety provision is up-to-scratch in terms of both primary and secondary planning, or they will face severe consequences, now potentially including the costs of inspection.
We urge employers to take this opportunity to make sure that they are not only minimising the chances of injury for their employees, but they have the trained and equipped personnel in place to respond when accidents do occur.
We’ve seen the impact that poor health and safety practices can have on a business, be it financial, reputational or even worse, at the cost of someone’s life. By training more than the regulatory minimum of staff in first aid, employers can not only ensure they are meeting regulatory requirements, but reducing dangerous gaps and increasing employee safety.