Reclaiming health and safety for all

Book excerpt: The focus of this review has been on the 200 or so regulations and the 53 Approved codes of practice owned by the Health and Safety Executive. It concentrates on areas where evidence and contributions have indicated that regulations are putting undue costs on business whilst doing little to improve health and safety outcomes. The general sweep of requirements set out in health and safety legislation are broadly fit for purpose but there are a few that offer little benefit to health and safety and which the government should remove, revise or clarify, in particular the duties for self-employed people whose work activities pose no potential risk of harm to others. The much bigger problem is that regulator requirements are misunderstood and applied inappropriately and recommendations are put forward to address this. They seek to: streamline the body of regulation; re-direct enforcement activity towards business where there is the greatest risk of injury or ill health; re-balancing the civil justice system by clarifying the status of pre-action protocols and reviewing strict liability provisions