Reviewing Lofstedt: what now for health and safety at work? Liverpool
Tuesday 22 May 2012A one-day conference Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool 9.30am
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About the ConferenceIn 2011 the coalition government commissioned Professor Ragnar Löfstedt of King’s College London, aided by an independent panel, to review the so-called ‘burden’ on business of health and safety legislation. There was a call for evidence in July 2011, and ‘Reclaiming health and safety for all: an independent review of health and safety legislation’ was published in October 2011. The report made a number of recommendations including simplifying the Approved Codes of Practice, and reviewing and consolidating a number of sector-specific regulations. A timetable of further tasks has now been put into place including plans to revoke regulations deemed to be ‘unnecessary’. Although the world of work has certainly changed since the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974 there is no reason to believe that the level of risk has diminished. The types of risks faced by workers and the gross numbers of injuries, illnesses and fatalities reported remain unacceptable in a civilized society. In its response to the Löfstedt Review, three IER experts commented “While the government had implied a thoroughgoing undermining of health and safety law as a bureaucratic brake on business activity, the Review suggests no such thing. In fact, it largely endorses the current regulatory framework for health and safety and consequently does not appear to represent an explicit attempt to weaken its foundations”. The questions are, will the recent review of health and safety and the report it generated, help to reduce accidents and injuries at work? What recommendations does the Löfstedt report make and will those recommendations help develop or dismantle the UK’s health and safety regime? Conference PapersConference papers are now available to download below. The following links may also be useful for those particularly interested in the gender issues discussed by Susan Murray, Health and Safety Officer at UNITE. ILO Providing Safe and Healthy workplaces for Women and Men WHO toolkit Gender, Work and Health |
SpeakersDavid Whyte, University of Liverpool James Taylor, Prospect HSE Branch Vice Chair George Guy, UCATT Philip Liptrott, Thompsons Solicitors Professor Andrew Watterson, University of Stirling Susan Murray, Unite the Union Daniel Shears, GMB |
