Summary of the Lofstedt Report
Health & Safety update 30/11/2011
In March 2011, Professor Ragnar E Lofstedt was asked to review
health and safety legislation, with a view to reducing the burden
on business, whilst maintaining the progress that has been made in
health and safety outcomes. As a result of this 6 month review,
Professor Lofstedt has released a 110 page report summarising his
findings. Below is a brief summary of his recommendations to
Government, recommendations he would like to see delivered by April
2015, but with earlier target dates for some.
The report itself is unlikely to have any impact on Mentor but
as the various recommendations are implemented over the forthcoming
months, we will ensure that our systems and client information is
updated accordingly.
Following a detailed review of health and safety legislation
that has been taking place over the last 6 months, Professor Ragnar
E Lofstedt has released a report making a number of recommendations
to the Government. The government plans on launching a consultation
on the perceived 'large numbers' of health and safety rules. There
are currently about 200 health and safety regulations, but this
should be reduced by more than half over the next three years.
Excessive health and safety has been blamed for the banning of
low-risk activities, such as royal wedding street parties, and the
cancellations of school trips. However, Professor Lofstedt
concludes that the problem 'lies less with the regulations
themselves and more with the way they are interpreted and
applied'.
Key Recommendations
- Exempting from health and safety law those self-employed whose
work activities pose no potential risk of harm to others.
- That HSE should review all its ACoPs (Approved Codes of
Practice) The initial phase of the review should be completed by
June 2012 so businesses have certainty about what is planned and
when changes can be anticipated.
- That HSE undertakes a programme of sector-specific
consolidations to be completed by April 2015.
- That legislation is changed to give HSE the authority to direct
all local authority health and safety inspection and enforcement
activity, in order to ensure that it is consistent and targeted
towards the most risky workplaces.
- That the original intention of the pre-action protocol standard
disclosure list is clarified and restated. (The original aims of
the pre-action protocols were to build on and increase the benefits
of early but well informed settlement of personal injury claims
which genuinely satisfy both parties) And that regulatory
provisions that impose strict liability should be reviewed by June
2012 and either qualified with 'reasonably practicable' where
strict liability is not absolutely necessary or amended to prevent
civil liability from attaching to a breach of those
provisions.
Professor Lofstedt makes a number of other recommendations
including the scrapping of a number of pieces health and safety
legislation which appear to result in un-necessary cost whilst
providing little benefit. Legislation such as the Notification of
Tower Cranes Regulations 2010, the Notification of Conventional
Tower Cranes (Amendment) Regulations 2010, the Celluloid and
Cinematographic Film Act 1922 (Exemptions) Regulations 1980 and the
Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989. He also recommends
that a number of pieces of legislation are amended, clarified or
reviewed such as;
- The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981,
- The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007,
- The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations 1995,
- The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, and
- The Work at Height Regulations 2005
He also makes the recommendation that the UK Government should
work more closely with the European Union to ensure that health and
safety legislation is risk and evidence based and that all proposed
Directives and regulations that have a perceived cost to society of
more than 100 million Euros should go through an automatic
regulatory impact assessment.
Judith Hackitt, the Chair of HSE, said: "Professor Löfstedt's
insightful report will go a long way to refocusing health and
safety in Great Britain on those things that matter - supporting
those who want to do the right thing and reducing rates of
work-related death, injury and ill health. We must have a system of
health and safety which enables employers to make sensible and
proportionate decisions about managing genuine workplace risks.
Simplifying and streamlining the stock of regulations, focusing
enforcement on higher risk businesses, clarifying requirements, and
rebalancing the civil litigation system - these are all practical,
positive steps. Poor regulation - that which adds unnecessary
bureaucracy with no real benefits - drives out confidence in good
regulation. We welcome these reforms because they are good for
workers and employers but also for the significant contribution
they will make to restoring the rightful reputation of real health
and safety."
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