News

April 05, 2011

Health and safety reforms to cut business inspections by a third

Reforms to UK health and safety regulations will reduce red tape for small businesses – cutting the number of inspections by a third, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said, writes Clare Bullock.

Under the changes to health and safety regulations announced in the Budget, there will no longer be automatic health and safety inspections for all firms. Instead they will focus only on “rogue employers” and high-risk sectors – such as construction – a step that is predicted to reduce the number of inspections by at least a third.

Measures are also being taken to produce a list of qualified health and safety consultants, to prevent “cowboy” inspectors giving inappropriate recommendations. In addition, a review of all existing health and safety legislation will be published in the autumn, in an attempt to cut unnecessary regulations.

“Obviously it’s paramount that workers are protected in their jobs and that remains the case, but where regulation has built up over time and doesn’t serve a purpose, we think the Government should take action and help employers concentrate on growth,” said a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spokeswoman.

“What is the purpose of having very detailed regulation where it’s not needed?” she added. “A worker in an office doesn’t need the same level of protection as someone on a construction site and it doesn’t serve that worker having a whole raft of regulation.”

However, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) expressed concerns that cutting automatic inspections would lead to an increase in deaths and injuries in the workplace. “Employers need to know that there is the possibility of a safety inspector visiting, otherwise there will be no incentive for them to ensure they are protecting their workers,” said TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber.

“Removing proactive inspections from a large number of workplaces mean that employers can get away with ignoring the law until they kill or seriously injure someone,” he added.

Alongside the reforms the HSE has also published an online guide to help small and low-risk employers meet their obligations without getting caught up in unnecessary red tape.

• For more information about the reforms, visit the DWP website
• For more information on health and safety legislation, visit the Start Up Donut guide to complying with health and safety