25 Mar - British Safety Council responds to Conservative plan for health and safety reform

Thursday, 25 Mar 2010

The British Safety Council is calling for an urgent meeting with Lord Young of Graffham, the former Secretary of State for Trade & Industry, to discuss the review of health and safety he is undertaking at the request of David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party.

The review is addressing the effectiveness of our current health and safety laws, personal injury litigation costs and examining the role of consultants in helping small businesses manage health and safety risks. The report of this review, including recommendations, is due to be presented to David Cameron in the next few weeks.

Julie Nerney, Chief Executive of the British Safety Council, wrote to Lord Young at the beginning of the year seeking a meeting and offering to make available the considerable knowledge, expertise and experience of our 8,000 member organisations in effectively managing health and safety risks. She wrote, "The British Safety Council attaches great importance to the review of health and safety law, insurance and litigation that Mr Cameron has asked you to lead. We recognise that there are many serious health and safety challenges surrounding regulation and those arising from the economic and social burden of work-related ill health and injury. We must not lose sight of the pain, suffering and loss work related accidents and ill health mean for thousands of British workers, their families, business, society and the public purse." Julie Nerney is hoping to report to British Safety Council members shortly on the outcome of that proposed meeting.

Speaking at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health's (IOSH) annual conference in Glasgow Lord Young set out a number of Conservative Party concerns surrounding workplace health and safety and public safety too. Lord Young referred to a constant flow of newspaper articles featuring cases where, for example, the police had failed to act due to concern about the possible legal consequences should the officers suffer injury in carrying out their duties. He also cited "an enormous increase in the perceived risk of litigation" particularly amongst small businesses.

Lord Young also addressed the competence and qualification of health and safety practitioners and consultants to provide expert and proportionate health and safety advice, "In the nineties there were some six thousand members of your institution. Today there are some 36,000, a six-fold increase. …. The recommendations of poorly qualified consultants are being enforced through fear of insurance claims. This more than anything else gives health and safety a bad name. … It is up to all of us to apply common sense in all our decisions. If we do that we will see the end of all the nonsense stories that are so undermining health and safety in our country."

IndustryToday Mar 2010