Happy Birthday HSWA!

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:48:46 +0200

It is 35 years since the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 came into force to improve and facilitate the protection of the UK’s working population from risks to their well-being.

Since the Act was introduced on 31 July 1974, largely on the basis of the report produced by Lord Robens and the parliamentary committee on safety and health at work in 1972, the number of people killed at work has decreased by almost 75 per cent. Robens’ review identified that the prevailing legislation at the time was overly complex, disjointed and relied too much on State regulation, with too little emphasis on personal responsibility.

The new Act was built around his vision of a goal-setting rather than prescriptive approach to regulation, and provided a framework for the management of health and safety that was able to accommodate changes in the world of work – through the introduction of specific, supplementary regulations – and encourage proactive implementation of best-practice methods and approaches.

The debate over whether the HSWA is still ‘fit for purpose’ in today’s working environment has intensified recently, with concerns from business that the plethora of regulations, ACoPs, and guidance that support the Act are gradually turning the situation into the same complex one that existed pre-1974, while employee representatives feel the lack of prescription and relatively low penalties imposed for breaches do not provide enough of an incentive for employers to effectively manage health and safety.

HSE chair Judith Hackitt, however, has hailed the Act as “revolutionary” and maintains that it remains “remarkably resilient”. Giving the annual Rivers Lecture earlier this year, she said: “Apathy was identified [by Lord Robens] as the enemy of progress in health and safety 35 years ago; today I would cite lack of real leadership based on common sense, passion and care as the enemy. We have the best health and safety regulatory system in the world and we have made enormous progress since the 1970s. But the world has changed – the risks to people at work have changed, and our risk aversion driven by fear of civil litigation has increased. Looking for someone else to blame has become the norm in business and in society more generally. It’s time to reverse that trend and now, more than ever, we need leaders who are not afraid to show they care and to lead the way.”

Calling the Act “a truly brilliant piece of legislation”, IOSH president Nattasha Freeman nevertheless acknowledged that it is not perfect. She explained: “Clearly, with, on average, more than 200 workers dying each year in Britain’s workplaces, all is still not well. With the number of people suffering ill health that they attribute to work standing at more than 2 million, there are new challenges for the Act. But the clever thing about the HSWA has been its ability to change. It might have taken a few knocks over the years but it is still, 35 years after coming into law, a highly important and ingenious piece of legislation, and there’s no reason why it can’t continue underpinning health and safety laws for many years to come.”

From Safety and Health Professional
31st July 2009

The Health and Safety of Great Britain - Be Part of the solution

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:07:57 +0200

Last year, 229 people were killed at work, thousands more died of work-related illnesses and 137,000 injuries were reported. The Health and Safety Executive has launched a new strategy which will guide and inform efforts to reduce the numbers of people killed or injured at work or those affected by work-related illnesses. While much has been achieved in the last three decades, there is more to be done and it can only be achieved by working in partnership.

New research demonstrates that employers and workers alike both recognise overwhelmingly that providing a safe workplace makes sound commercial sense. Nearly 90 per cent of business leaders say that people are their organisation’s most important asset. In addition to preventing accidents, 65 per cent of employees say that good health and safety practices make them feel valued.

The recession could make some workplaces more dangerous, as more than a quarter of business leaders say that that their organisation will face pressure to cut spending on health and safety this year. This is not only potentially dangerous but could also be bad for business; nearly eight in ten business leaders acknowledge that good health and safety standards are beneficial. In part this is because the cost of preventing accidents is almost always less than the costs associated with an accident once it happens.

Too often health and safety is seen as trivial or the preserve of ‘jobsworths’, rather than preventing tragedy. A third of employees wrongly think that HSE bans wearing flip-flops at work or children playing with conkers. In fact, HSE is focused on real risks and preventing the serious harm that dangerous workplaces can cause.

The most effective way to improve health and safety practices is for senior management to show leadership on the issue. HSE is thus calling on leaders today to sign a pledge to ‘Be Part of the Solution’ and improve health and safety standards.

The pledge is as follows:

We, the undersigned:

Agree to play our part in reducing the numbers of work-related deaths, injuries and ill-health in Great Britain.
Call on employers to put health and safety at the heart of what they do and to take a common-sense approach to health and safety.
Commit to debunking myths around health and safety that trivialise the impact of injuries, ill health and deaths on individuals and their families.
Recognise the importance of health and safety in difficult economic times and the dangers of complacency.
Pledge to work with the Health and Safety Executive and its partners to be part of the solution.

July 16th, 2009

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Happy Birthday HSWA!

The Health and Safety of Great Britain - Be Part of the solution