OVERVIEW

Following Lord Young and Professor Löfstedt's independent recommendations, the government has set about implementing plans to reform Britain's health and safety system. The aim is to reduce the burden of bureaucracy, deliver an overhaul in the way compensation and personal injury claims are handled, and ensure that there is a shift in enforcement activity to focus on higher risk areas and serious breaches of regulations. Professor Löfstedt has been asked to review the government's progress in implementing the recommendations of his report, and has reported on progress in January 2013. What impact have the recommendations had so far and what more needs to be done?

In addition, the HSE's Fee for Intervention (FFI) cost recovery scheme is being launched to ensure those who break healthy and safety laws pay their share of the costs and spare the public purse. But will this scheme be another administrative burden for organisations? Just as importantly, will it also mean a fairer system for inspections and no decrease in health and safety standards?

Although the assumption that a bureaucratic approach to health and safety has become a brake on economic growth and productivity, the challenge remains to prevent injury, illness and protect public environments. HSE statistics for 2010/11 show that 26.4 million days were lost, with work related stress being the biggest single cause. In addition, 26,000 major injuries occurred in the workplace. Occupational health should be a key consideration to not only prevent serious injury and illness, but to also help improve productivity and absence management. There is evidence of the social and financial benefits that well-managed, proportionate health and safety brings to both employers and employees. With the ongoing reforms around health and safety regulations and inspections, are we in danger of seeing standards slipping?

Much in the same way as interpretation of regulations has resulted in over-compliance in many businesses, it can be argued that these same issues have also branched out of the high-risk industries to encompass more and more of public life. What is good practice for safety and risk management and how might it differ between the factory environment and public space beyond the factory fence? Is it time to factor in a risk benefit assessment to aid decision-making on safety management and public space?

Join us at our third annual Health and Safety Reform: Striking the Right Balance conference where expert speakers will explore the impact of the recent recommendations and reforms to help ensure that your organisation is effectively managing risks in an effective and sensible way.