The Government has accepted all of the key recommendations of the Löfstedt Review of health and safety legislation - and plans to end the "gold-plating" of European Union regulation.

In March 2011 the Department for Work and Pensions Minister for Employment, the Rt Hon Chris Grayling, asked Professor Ragnar Löfstedt, Director of the King’s Centre for Risk Management at King’s College London to chair an independent review of health and safety legislation.

The Government has now published its response to the Review accepting all of its key recommendations and setting out a timetable for implementation.

Professor Löfstedt was asked to look into the scope for reducing the burden of health and safety regulation on business, and in particular the extent to which the regulations had led to positive health and safety outcomes and the extent to which they have created significant economic costs for businesses of all sizes.

The Review also addressed the scope for combining, simplifying or reducing the – approximately 200 – statutory instruments owned by HSE and primarily enforced by HSE and Local Authorities, and the associated Approved Codes of Practice (ACoP) which provide advice, with special legal status, on compliance with health and safety law.

Gold-plating EU legislation to end

The review also sought to take into account whether the requirements of EU Directives are being unnecessarily enhanced (‘gold-plated’) when transposed into UK regulation. As much as half of all legislation affecting UK businesses originates in Brussels. The Government’s view is that more should be done to reduce the burden of EU regulations and end gold-plating of EU legislation in the UK.

The Löfstedt Review’s key recommendations are:

• Exempting from health and safety law those self employed whose work activities pose no potential risk of harm to others.
• HSE should review all its Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs). The initial phase of the review should be completed by June 2012 so businesses have certainty about what is planned and when changes can be anticipated.
• HSE to undertake a programme of sector specific consolidations to be completed by April 2015.
• Legislation is changed to give HSE the authority to direct all local authority health and safety inspection and enforcement activity, in order to ensure that it is consistent and targeted towards the most risky businesses.
• The original intention of the pre-action standard disclosure (Woolf) lists is clarified and restated and that regulatory provisions that impose strict liability should be reviewed by June 2013 and either qualified with ‘reasonably practicable’ where strict liability is not absolutely necessary or amended to prevent civil liability from attaching to a breach of those provisions.
• The Government works more closely with the Commission and others, particularly during the planned review in 2013, to ensure that both new and existing EU health and safety legislation is risk-based and evidence-based.
• All proposed directives and regulations (and amendments to them) that have a perceived cost to society of more than 100 million Euros should go through an automatic regulatory impact assessment; and
• The UK Government works with the Commission to introduce greater clarity and raise awareness around social partner agreements, and to ensure that Impact Assessments are produced for agreements before they are adopted as a Directive

Next steps

 The Government said it is committed to delivering the recommendations to the timetable suggested in the report, or earlier where possible. The DWP will now develop an implementation plan with HSE and other Government departments and agree milestones for action. The Government intends to publish regular progress updates on the DWP website on the proposed timetable:

By the summer of 2012

• Health and safety guidance for small businesses will be much simpler.
• Businesses will get simple and consistent guidance from HSE, professional bodies and insurers on whether and when they need to bring in expert health and safety advice.
• Low risk businesses that manage their responsibilities properly will no longer be visited by inspectors.
• Legislation will be brought forward to abolish the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority.

By 2013

• Self-employed people whose work poses no threat to others will be exempt from health and safety law.
• Approved Codes of Practice will give businesses clear practical examples of how to comply with the law.
• Unnecessary regulations will be revoked.

By 2014

• A simpler accident reporting regime will be in place.
• If we are successful in influencing the planned review, EU health and safety legislation will in future be risk- and evidence based.
• The nuclear industry will have its own dedicated independent regulator.
• HSE’s enhanced powers will help drive consistent enforcement for all businesses.
• Regulations will be consolidated by industry sector, making it clear which provisions businesses need to comply with.
• The total number of regulations businesses have to comply with will be reduced by 50 per cent.

The Government said that as a result of the implementation of the recommendations and other Government action already under way, it expects the experience of businesses to change significantly over the coming months and years. A Government statement said:

“Professor Lofstedt’s report is a significant step in our continuing effort to keep our workplaces safe, free businesses from red tape, and reclaim the reputation of health and safety that has been so damaged by the excesses of the compensation culture. We are committed to taking his recommendations forward vigorously.”