Löfstedt's health and safety plans are "sensible and worthwhile"

2/1/2012 10:00 AM EST

As one of the most significant developments in the world of health and safety, the Löfstedt Report has made recommendations that are both "sensible and worthwhile", according to health and safety advisor Bibby Consulting & Support.

Essentially, the report – by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt, Director of the King's Centre for Risk Management at King's College, London – says that the problem with health and safety is not the regulations themselves but the way they are interpreted and applied.

The government wants to cut the number of health and safety regulations by more than 50 per cent without reducing the protection given to employees and others. Its preferred solution is a simpler and more easily understood regulatory framework.

With this in mind, the government has accepted all of Löfstedt's recommendations which include exempting from health and safety law self-employed people whose work activities pose no real risk of harm to others. Also, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) should review all 53 approved codes of practice (ACoPs) by June next year with the aim of making it easier for employers to understand how to meet their obligations.

However, Bibby Consulting & Support reckons the government is standing in line with a succession of bodies on the opposite side of the fence from employers, who speak of the reasonable practicability principle as if it will hugely reduce the compliance burden on employers. This remains to be seen, says Michael Slade, Managing Director of Bibby Consulting & Support.

"The Löfstedt Report makes some sensible and worthwhile recommendations," Slade says, "and let's give credit where it’s due – the government is apparently committed to simplified guidance for small businesses and no routine inspections for low risk businesses who manage health and safety well by summer 2012."

He continues: "These goals are to be applauded but the jury is still out on whether this shrinking of health and safety legislation will simplify matters without creating more work for people to understand the change. Simplification is absolutely the right thing but with it comes change, and change can sometimes cause problems, unless of course the government is willing to provide guidance and support along with it to help people understand the impact."

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Click here for the image to support this release (caption: Michael Slade, Managing Director of Bibby Consulting & Support).
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