OVERVIEW

Far from being grateful that lifeguards had successfully resuscitated a drowning swimmer, the saved man took legal action to gain compensation for marks to his chest left by the defibrillator!

Beware the onset of winter as it heralds the 'suing season' with councils feeling compelled to warn of falling acorns, conker fights and the hazards of clearing snowy paths.

Is this today's society?

The compensation culture in which we live has stimulated overzealous enforcement of health and safety laws, laws that were originally designed to be applied within dangerous workplaces, but which are now often applied in the playground, office and the wider community. The need to redress the balance within the health and safety sector has never been greater, and therefore, the Coalition Government has prepared a review to bring back some proportionality to health and safety issues.
Published in October, the review, 'Common Sense, Common Safety', makes many recommendations, including: a reduction in bureaucracy, particularly with reference to school trips where a 12 page document will be replaced by a single consent form; that 'Good Samaritans' should be exempt from being sued; and a crackdown on injury claims advertising, with a ban on certain incentives to encourage people to lodge claims for the most trivial of accidents.

These reforms, which have been supported in their entirety by the government, will not impact on important health and safety laws in hazardous workplaces but will tip the balance back from the risk-adverse culture to one where common sense applies.

At Health and Safety Reform – A Common Sense Approach the changes to be undertaken in the next 18 months will be discussed and their impact assessed to ascertain if they really will signal a 'turning point', as David Cameron states, to 'help stop the creep of unnecessary health and safety culture'. The legislation and its application within the public sector will be addressed with no doubt stimulating debate on whether reducing red tape will impact on health and safety standards leaving delegates with a true understanding of future health and safety legislation and its impact within their working environments.