H&S not a burden, says TUC

The TUC has condemned the recommendations of a new report by the right-leaning think tank Policy Exchange, Health and Safety – Reducing the Burdens. These include giving consideration as to whether some health and safety requirements like risk assessments can be lifted from micro-enterprises and low-risk office-based businesses. It also says the current costs of health and safety regulation are too high.

But TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Anyone who believes that there is a culture of over-compliance needs some basic lessons in the reality of working life. Last year 30 million days were lost due to injuries and ill-health caused by work. And a quarter of a million people were injured at work. These were caused by employers failing to comply with health and safety regulations. Research has shown that over half of all small businesses have not even done a basic risk assessment as required by law.”

He added: “We now have less than half the number of regulations than 35 years ago. Businesses spend, on average, less than four minutes a day on health and safety – hardly a major burden. There is no place for any lowering of standards or reducing regulation. Instead, we need more support for businesses that want to do the right thing, and more enforcement action against those that do not.”

(The report can be found at www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/pdfs/Health_and_Safety_-_Reducing_the_burden_-_March__10.pdf)