Health and Safety overhaul well underway

The Government has declared that it is making rapid progress in restoring common sense to health and safety regulations, saving businesses millions of pounds every year.

Progress made so far includes:

By April 2013, one in 10 sets of health and safety regulations will have been scrapped.

200 sets of outdated guidelines have already been scrapped – one fifth of all health and safety publications.

Proactive health and safety inspections by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have been cut from 33,000 in 2010/11 to less than 22,000 to 2011/12, with inspections focused on where risks are high.

In its first four months, over 75,000 users have accessed a new Health and Safety “Toolbox”, which aims to makes it easier for businesses to understand their health and safety responsibilities.

The public can now challenge official decisions which are taken on the grounds of “health and safety” through the HSE’s Myth Busters Challenge Panel. These include restaurants refusing to heat up baby food, and golf buggies being banned on a golf course.

Mary Boughton, chair of the Federation of Small Businesses’ Health and Safety committee says: “It is important that employers can focus on managing real risk, not unnecessary paperwork, and these changes are helping to achieve that.”