Reports show Government "progress" in reducing health and safety regulatory burdens

The Government is currently acting on recommendations made by Lord Young in 2010 and Professor Ragnar Lofstedt in 2011. It plans to have reviewed, scrapped or simplified half of the UK's health and safety regulations by next year.

According to a new report (24-page / 89KB PDF), the Government has already implemented 23 of the 35 recommendations made by Lord Young. The peer was commissioned by the Government to tackle negative perceptions surrounding health and safety law and tackle "rise of compensation culture over the last decade". That report was followed by Lofstedt's study (13-page / 110KB PDF) to his 2011 study, which proposed helping businesses "focus on growth rather than unnecessary red tape".

"I am pleased that the government is on track with the implementation of the recommendations of my report and is supporting a more risk- and evidence-based approach to health and safety," Lofstedt said.

The Government accepted the recommendations of Lofstedt's wide-ranging report in full when it was published in November 2011. In the report, Lofstedt said that the UK's existing health and safety regime went "beyond EU requirements" in certain areas, such as by including self-employed people within the ambit of the law.

In September 2012, the Government announced that regular health and safety inspections would be scrapped for all but the most high-risk businesses from April, as recommended by Lofstedt. An amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, introduced the following month, will remove the 'strict liability' principle which makes companies automatically liable for some workplace injuries regardless of fault, when the Bill receives Royal Assent.

Health and safety law expert Gareth McManus of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that while the Government had been successful in "loosening the regulatory regime" for employers, its policies had not all been good news for businesses.

"Many in the business community point to the increased financial burden brought by other changes such as the 'Fee for Intervention' scheme, which was introduced in October last year," he said. "Concerns have also been raised by some experts and employee organisations about the potential for increases in accidents in industries and workplaces where proactive inspections have ceased."

"The Government has set ambitious targets in terms of the amount of legislation it wishes to scrap or simplify without any compromise of standards – exactly how this will be achieved remains to be seen," he said.

However Employment Minister Mark Hoban welcomed the reports, which he said showed how much progress the Government had made in "restoring clarity to the system".

"For too long businesses have been confused by health and safety regulations which cost them money and take up time when they should be focusing on growth," he said. "Health and safety is important, but its focus should be where risks are high."