Lawford Kidd's Blog

An amended Government plan to deregulate areas of health and safety remains “unnecessary, unhelpful and unwise”, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has said.

Clause 1 of the Government’s Deregulation Bill will amend the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to exempt certain self-employed from general health and safety duties.

IOSH and a wide-range of other stakeholders have said the clause could lead to confusion, lower standards and increase the risk of injury and illness at work.

Figures published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2014 showed that Britain is one of the safest places to work in the EU, however with 133 deaths and over 78,000 people injured in the last year alone, just how good are the health and safety standards in the UK?

Recent statistics show that as well as numerous employees sustaining injuries in the workplace, over 1.1 million employees suffer from a work-related illness, costing society, on average, £14.2 billion a year to treat.

Illnesses in the workplace cost employers 60% more than injuries throughout the working year. The report also showed that 28.2 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury in 2013/14.

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has expressed its disappointment after the House of Lords voted in favour of Government plans to deregulate areas of health and safety.

Clause 1 of the Government’s Deregulation Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament, contains plans to make certain self-employed workers exempt from health and safety law.

IOSH opposes the clause and has raised concern that exemption could lead to confusion, lower standards and increase the risk of injury and illness at work. Other bodies have also raised similar concerns.

An independent panel, chaired by a Liverpool University professor, has concluded that the Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme - found under regulations 23 to 25 of the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012 - has been widely effective and should stay.

Government plans to deregulate areas of health and safety, have been criticised by Members of the House of Lords.

As explained in our blog from last week – “Certain Self-Employed Persons to Become Exempt from Health & Safety Law?” - under current UK Government plans, all self-employed workers, with the exception of those undertaking ‘prescribed activities’, will become exempt from health and safety law.

The ‘prescribed activities’ are those thought to be high hazard or high risk, and includes agriculture and construction sectors.