The Löfstedt Review Of Health And Safety Legislation And Compensation

Perhaps one of the most important Government actions to take place since the introduction of the Health & Safety At Work Act 1974 following the Robens Report into health and safety legislation in the UK, is about to be undertaken by a Government which has the pathological and ideological hatred of anything which regulates business at its heart.

It is certainly one which will have profound effects upon the working lives of every person in the UK.

The abolition of Health & safety protection for workers is probably the one single issue that this Tory led coalition government has as its main priority along with the privatisation of the NHS and the removal of employment protection. Using the economic situation, which they distort and manipulate, in order to justify attacks on the working people of this country.

Here in a major article, ahead of its publication next week in a letter to CWU branches, Dave Joyce who some two years ago forecast the Tory attacks on health and safety legislation; provides a detailed analysis of the terms of the Löfstedt Review Of Health And Safety Legislation:

Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Minister for Employment, Chris Grayling MP, has published the “draft terms of reference” for the government-commissioned review of health and safety laws in the UK. The review, announced last month is part of the Coalition government's massive shake-up of Britain’s health and safety system. The review team is to be led by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt, director of the King’s Centre for Risk Management at King’s College, London.

Behind the review is the government's determination to attack and cut health and safety legislation in the UK, reducing the so called "burdens on businesses and employers".  The review team will explore the scope for consolidating, simplifying or abolishing regulations and will look at 200 sets of Health and Safety Regulations enforced by the HSE and Local Authorities, as well as the associated Approved Codes of Practice which provide advice, with special legal status, on compliance with health and safety law. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 are excluded from the review.

The Review Terms of Reference state that evidence will be gathered from a range of key stakeholders including Government bodies, employers’ organisations, Trade Unions, professional health and safety bodies, and academics. Their brief is to also determine whether the requirements of EU Directives are being unnecessarily enhanced or “gold-plated” on translation into UK law, make comparisons with health and safety regimes in other countries, look at  whether there is a clear link between regulation and positive health and safety outcomes and in relation to compensation look for evidence of inappropriate litigation and compensation arising from health and safety legislation and whether changes to legislation are needed to clarify the legal position of employers in cases where employees act in an irresponsible manner.

The Review Panel Chair, Professor Ragnar Lofstedt is a risk management specialist and career academic from King’s College London with an 'anti-regulation' reputation and background.

He is being supported in the review by a panel which we now know comprises six members:

* an MP from each of the three main political parties as “legislature representatives” — Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen, Lib Dem MP John Thurso and Labour MP Andrew Miller;

* “employer representative” John Armitt, chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority;

* "employee representative" Sarah Veale, head of the TUC’s equity and employment rights department; and

* Dr Adam Marshall, policy director at the British Chamber of Commerce, as the “small business representative”.  

This amounts to two government representatives, two business representatives (all no doubt supporting the anti-health and safety de-regulation line), one Labour MP and one TUC representative.

CWU national Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce told Unionsafety:

"This government directed exercise is referred to as an 'independent review of health and safety legislation' - it's seems clearly to be far from that! The cards are heavily stacked against the two Labour and Trade Union members of the Review Panel and it will be difficult to accomplish much by way of defending current health and safety regulations. These factors predetermine to a large extent the outcome which looks essentially to endorse government policy with the review panel going through the motions."

Dave added "There is much that is good about the current health and safety regime, but aspects that can, and should, be improved are being ignored by the government in this review i.e. HSE Resources and Enforcement.

This review is another negative move and Professor Lofstedt is not a Safety Professional and not the best person qualified to lead such a review. This review will not address the real issues of the unacceptable number of deaths and injuries at work every year in the UK and has been set up based on supposition along with the health and safety myths pedaled by the media and this present anti-health and safety government. Improving health and safety outcomes is just not on the agenda."

Dave continued:

The review will assess whether the requirements of EU directives are being ‘gold-plated’ by the UK unnecessarily, during their transposition into UK law. So called ‘gold-plating' however is a myth that other previous reviews have dismissed. In relation to government claims regarding the need to simplify health and safety regulations, this is more nonsense because this has been ongoing since the HSE launched its 'simplification plan' in 2006. Duplication of this previous work is obviously being ignored for ulterior motives.

Comparisons between the UK’s health and safety system and health and safety regimes in other countries will be interesting and perhaps predictable as better standards are ignored and weaker standards become the benchmark in this de-regulation drive. There is no reference, also, to identifying areas that could benefit from improvement and strengthening of health and safety standards and regulation and there seems to be insufficient time for the review panel to assess in detail over 200 sets of Health and Safety Regulations and consult with stakeholders, if it is to report back by autumn.

We remain concerned that over-simplification could erode essential worker and public health and safety protection. Employers Organisations continue to welcome the review and see it as an opportunity to split from the European health and safety direction."

Dave concluded: "The CWU, TUC, other Unions and Safety Campaign groups will do their utmost to ensure the review team listens to the voice of those affected by the UK's health and safety regime."

You can download the documentation illustrated above from the E-Library Database using the search term 'Lofstedt' and 'Acts' Click on the document to go to the E-Library Database and input the appropriate search term.

See also: Government Cuts Ahead Of Health And Safety Review Bite Into HSE

Source: Dave Joyce, CWU / DWP

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