The Government has announced
plans to begin a major cut back of
health and safety red tape as early as
January. It will begin an immediate
consultation on the abolition of
large numbers of health and safety
regulations and intends to have
removed the first rules from the
statute book within a few months.

It will establish from 1 January a
challenge panel which will allow
businesses to get decisions of health
and safety inspectors overturned
immediately if
they have got it
wrong.

The move
follows
publication of
the Löfstedt
Review into health and safety
legislation, commissioned by the
Employment Minister in March.

It recommends that health and
safety law should not apply to selfemployed
people whose work
activity poses no risk of harm to
others.

Professor Ragnar E Löfstedt set
out his recommendations in the
report Reclaiming health and safety
for all: An independent review of
health and safety legislation.

Health and safety regulations will
be reduced by a third rising to over
a half over the next three years
through combining, simplifying and
reducing the approximately 200
existing regulations. The role of the
HSE in relation to local authorities
will be significantly strengthened.

The report also makes
recommendations to ensure that
employers are not held responsible
for damages when they have done
all they can to manage risk.

Welcoming the publication of the
Lofstedt review, Judith Hackitt,
chair of HSE, said: “We welcome
these reforms because they are good
for workers and employers, but also
for the significant contribution they
will make to restoring the rightful
reputation of real health and safety.”
HSE said that it would meet the
time-table set by the Government
for implementing the
recommendations for which it was
responsible.