Young review to be implemented in full, Budget confirms

In yesterday’s Budget, Chancellor George Osborne confirmed that the recommendations made in Lord Young’s Common Sense, Common Safety health and safety review will be implemented in full. When the report was published in October 2010, the Government said it accepted all the recommendations.

Earlier this week, Work and Pensions Minister, Chris Grayling MP, announced a package of changes to Britain’s health and safety system, including a huge cut in health and safety inspections.

Under the plans, employers will no longer face automatic health and safety inspections. Instead, health and safety inspectors will be instructed to concentrate their efforts on high risk locations, like major energy facilities, and on rogue employers who are putting the safety of their staff and the public at risk. This measure will cut the number of inspections carried out in the UK by at least a third. Rogue employers who endanger public and employee safety will also have to pay for the costs of the investigation into their activities.

The new register of qualified health and safety consultants has been made available to businesses, and those who are untrained or give false advice will be excluded from the approved list.

The Government is also launching a review of all existing health and safety law, with a view to scrapping measures that are not needed and put an unnecessary burden on business. The review will be chaired by a leading risk management specialist, Professor Ragnar E Lofstedt, of King’s College London, and will publish its findings in the autumn.

David Urpeth, National Head of Workplace Injuries at Irwin Mitchell, has called for a careful approach to the issue of reassessing safety legislation to be taken.

He explained:

“Legislation undoubtedly needs to be fair and proportionate. However, it is vital that ministers show caution when deciding to change existing health and safety procedures.

"We have seen an improvement in the numbers killed and seriously injured in the workplace, with the UK having the lowest number of non-fatal accidents and the second lowest level of fatal accidents in Europe.

“However, we must be wary of undermining the advances in health and safety law which have helped to achieve that.

“Health and safety legislation plays a vital role in keeping many workers across the UK safe from harm and it is vital that its importance remains acknowledged throughout the process.”