The Government has recently been making many noises about the scaling back of workplace health and safety red tape. This is perceived as the first step in the right direction by numerous businesses operating in many diverse sectors across the length and breadth of the country. Most decent businesses remain fully supportive of reasonable workplace health and safety measures, which they treat as part and parcel of their duty of care to their employees.
Yet many credible business owners and their human resources people feel that their current tongue in cheek approach to health and safety has nothing to do with trying to shirk responsibility. On the contrary to attempts at ducking important issues, it is broadly acknowledged that many businesses simply feel that things have gone too far.
In order to comply with current health and safety rules and regulations, it is estimated that UK businesses collectively spend multiple millions of pounds per year. However, recent reform proposals prepared for the Government by Kings College London’s Professor Ragmar Lofstedt, suggest that up to 50% of current health and safety regulations might be disposed of. Furthermore, the Professor has proposed that employers’ liability for any and every accident that staff members have should also be addressed.
The first business types set to benefit from amendments to this area of employment law will be self employed sole traders, who are currently required to complete risk assessments and vast amounts of related administration even when working from home offices.
At NorthgateArinso, we offer our outsourced health and safety expertise across all business sizes. We remain at the cutting edge of legislative changes, offering professional advice and practical assistance relating to common sense workplace health and safety compliance, as it currently stands and as it evolves.