Missed opportunity for reforming health and safety at work
Posted: February 6, 2013
Posted in: Employer Negligence Workplace Injuries
A recently published official report is a “missed opportunity” to voice strong concerns about Government plans to change health and safety regulations, according to the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
Professor Ragnar Löfstedt’s ‘Reclaiming health and safety for all: a review of progress one year on’ was published by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Former Employment Minister Chris Grayling MP commissioned the report, which examines how the Government has implemented recommendations made by both Prof Löfstedt and Lord Young of Graffham.
The Government has recommended a swift and wide-scale review of legislation and guidance in health and safety, including the commitment to scrap or improve 84% of health and safety regulations by the end of 2014.
IOSH has welcomed the author’s view that consolidation exercises should not be rushed and should be ‘scrutinised carefully’, to avoid unintended consequences.
But concerns raised by IOSH on the Government’s approach to reforming health and safety legislation, including proposals to revoke regulations on head protection in construction and tower cranes, were not endorsed in the report.
Opposition from the Chartered professional organisation to cuts in the reporting of workplace accidents and ill health, to the exemption of certain self-employed from health and safety law and to the removal of requirements for approved first-aider training, was also downplayed.
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