Lord Young backs manufacturing health and safety rules

Lord Young's report says: "Today we have the lowest number of non-fatal accidents and the second lowest number of fatal accidents at work in Europe. In my review of the workings of this Act, none of my recommendations applies to hazardous occupations where the present system, although probably overly bureaucratic, is nevertheless effective in reducing accidents at work. The report follows a Whitehall-wide review of the operation of health and safety laws and the growth of the compensation culture." The PM and the Cabinet have accepted all of the recommendations put forward by Lord Young, who will continue to work to carry through his recommendations. Common Sense, Common Safety puts forward a series of policies for improving the perception of health and safety, to ensure it is taken seriously by employers and the general public, while ensuring the burden on small business is as insignificant as possible. The report also calls for restrictions on advertising for "no win, no fee" compensation claims and a revolution in the way personal injury claims are handled. Welcoming the report, the Prime Minister said that a damaging compensation culture had arisen, "as if people can absolve themselves from any personal responsibility for their own actions, with the spectre of lawyers only too willing to pounce with a claim for damages on the slightest pretext. We simply cannot go on like this. That's why I asked Lord Young to do this review and put some common sense back into health and safety. And that's exactly what he has done." Lord Young's report says: "Despite the success of the Act, the standing of health and safety in the eyes of the public has never been lower, and there is a growing fear among business owners of having to pay out for even the most unreasonable claims. Press articles recounting stories where health and safety rules have been applied in the most absurd manner, or disproportionate compensation claims have been awarded for trivial reasons, are a daily feature of our newspapers. "All this is largely the result of the way in which sensible health and safety rules that apply to hazardous occupations have been applied across all occupations." EEF, the manufacturers' organisation EEF welcomed the report and urged government to build an alliance in Europe to stem the flow of new Health & Safety legislation.