Its more Deregulation......... or window dressing depending on your viewpoint. The safety community are no doubt making a lot of noise and the government is spinning it like they've re written the Magna Carta.
Now either I'm stupid or its a lot of noise about nothing. The whole draft of the Deregulation Bill can be found here.
It changes a few words with regards to section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act - I still fail to understand how that passes for Deregulation in real terms rather than simply a slight updating of the language. Small firms undertaking low risk work never had to create the mountains of paper that seem the norm for many now - mind you most the paper we seem to create was never legally required for larger companies either.
Low risk companies with less than 5 employees were exempt under the Law from having to create formal recorded risk assessments and policy. The fact is most of the demand for written safety records is driven by clients or Insurers (and given an Insurance Inspection is generally a cut and paste job ....... ooops cynical me). They still have a duty to ensure the safety of their operations - including their sub contractors.
Simple low risk work is just that and shouldn't need to be a burden - however do remember small companies can do higher risk work and will always need to be able to show they are safe and competent. Look at the number of prosecutions linked to people falling through roofs - its so often a small company.
Now either I'm stupid or its a lot of noise about nothing. The whole draft of the Deregulation Bill can be found here.
It changes a few words with regards to section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act - I still fail to understand how that passes for Deregulation in real terms rather than simply a slight updating of the language. Small firms undertaking low risk work never had to create the mountains of paper that seem the norm for many now - mind you most the paper we seem to create was never legally required for larger companies either.
Low risk companies with less than 5 employees were exempt under the Law from having to create formal recorded risk assessments and policy. The fact is most of the demand for written safety records is driven by clients or Insurers (and given an Insurance Inspection is generally a cut and paste job ....... ooops cynical me). They still have a duty to ensure the safety of their operations - including their sub contractors.
Simple low risk work is just that and shouldn't need to be a burden - however do remember small companies can do higher risk work and will always need to be able to show they are safe and competent. Look at the number of prosecutions linked to people falling through roofs - its so often a small company.
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