Government Review of H&S Legislation

With surprising speed the coalition government announced a review of Health and Safety Legislation, but what do they intend and what can they achieve?

The Prime Minister has asked Lord Young to look into concerns over the perceived misunderstanding of Health and Safety requirements and the compensation culture. Lord Young is expected to report to the Prime Minister later in the summer. From an article in the Daily Telegraph (22 June 2010) written by Lord Young we can perhaps gain an insight into the scope of the report:

‘There are three areas which my review will cover. First, in the private sector, we will have to examine the interaction between health and safety consultants, insurance companies and the legal system. Then there is the public sector, where the concern is not so much with the Health and Safety Executive as with the manner in which local authorities and the Health Service interpret the law. Finally, there are the police and emergency services and the way they interact with the public.’

Whilst there have been some negative responses to the review such as the comments made by the TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber who said:

‘This will not be an open and frank review aimed at achieving better regulation. Instead it is an attempt to undermine the already limited protection that workers have by focusing on the needs of business”.

Readers may be surprised at the positive response from Health and Safety organisations.The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health(IOSH) support the review, Richard Jones, IOSH’s Policy and Technical Director, welcomed this focus on educating people about what’s really required. He said:

“We welcome any debate that helps to dispel the negative myth that health and safety is all about banning things. The health and safety profession is in the business of protecting people from serious harm,
not about trivia or burdening businesses with bureaucratic red tape….We need legislation to protect workers and it’s important to remember that health and safety laws do a great job in helping prevent injury and illness at work. (www.iosh.co.uk)

Tom Mullarkey, chief executive of ‘The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ (ROSPA) also supports the review;

“We welcome this review and hope it will get to the bottom of concerns about health and safety once and for all, considering facts as well as people’s opinions…..ROSPA has previously called for a permanent body to investigate and take action on disproportionate health and safety issues, and we welcome this review as an important first step. The problem of getting safety right is one that needs to be solved through education not more legislation.” (www.rospa.com)

The Health and Safety Executive has been running a myth of the month campaign since 2007. This hits back at some of the ridiculous decisions that are wrongly blamed on health and safety. Often health and safety is invoked to disguise someone’s real motives be that concerns over costs or complexity, or an unwillingness to honestly defend an unpopular decision.

Regardless of the report, Health and Safety legislation is there to protect people from injury and employers should understand that managing health and safety is an integral part of their overall management processes. Effective management of Health and Safety can lead to increased productivity and lower costs.