Löfstedt report - reducing health and safety regulations

In March 2011, Professor Ragnar E. Löfstedt was asked by the Department for Work and Pensions to look into the scope for reducing the burden of health and safety regulation on business, whilst maintaining the progress that has been made in health and safety outcomes. His final report was published on 28 November 2011.

Prof. Löfstedt's report makes several recommendations. A key recommendation is to provide exemption from health and safety law to self-employed people whose work activities pose no potential risk of harm to others. This would extend to accountants, solicitors and other office-based professionals. Employment minister Chris Grayling estimates that a million self-employed people will be moved out of health and safety regulation altogether.

Another key recommendation is for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to be given authority to direct all local authority health and safety inspection and enforcement activity. Currently, the HSE takes responsibility for regulating high-risk workplaces such as factories and mines and local authorities monitor lower-risk environments such as shops and hotels. Transferring the inspection role to the HSE will ensure that enforcement is consistent and targeted towards the most risky workplaces.

Health and safety regulations will be cut by half over the next three years. Employment minister Chris Grayling is expected to start implementing the recommendations within weeks and start abolishing a substantial number of health and safety regulations.

Rules to be amended include

• Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 - remove the need for first aiders' training to be approved by the HSE. Prof. Löfstedt's report suggests that this requirement seems to have little justification provided the training meets a certain standard.

• Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 - Prof. Löfstedt recommends simplifying the rules surrounding the reporting workplace accidents

• Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 - ending over-compliance. At present, businesses are unnecessarily having appliances like microwaves and kettles testing carried out annually

•  Work at Height Regulations 2005 - remove confusion over what constitutes "height" to prevent the law being used to prohibit activities like standing on a low stools so that people do not go beyond what is either proportionate or what the legislation was originally intended to cover.

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health said it was in favour of "streamlining and simplification" of the regulations but could not "see the scope for reducing the number by half without potentially putting workers and the public under increased risk of injury or ill health."

Construction union UCATT said that focus should be moved from 'reducing burdens on business' and shifted to 'concentrating on the safety of workers. In the vast majority of accidents, if simple measures had been undertaken, fatal falls from heights could have been prevented.'

The full text of the report is available online. Click here

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