Should 800,000 People be Exempt From Health and Safety Law?
London (ots/PRNewswire)
Deconstructing the Deregulation Bill
The Government's draft Deregulation Bill first appeared in June last year. Clause 1 of that draft bill includes proposals to exempt certain self-employed people from health and safety law.
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This has caused some controversy among health and safety professionals, who believe that the exemption could lead to confusion, increasing the risk of injury, illness and death as a result.
We could lose some safeguards
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) strongly opposed the exemption since it was first proposed, and has been consulting with the government to improve the clarity. The government proposed to include a list of exempt professions:
"This would remove the requirement for the self-employed to also assess whether they pose a risk to others before exemption, which had been key to all three original options. Concerningly, this would lose an important safeguard and could lead to unintended consequences, as already identified by HSE, with some self-employed who do pose a risk to others potentially becoming exempted."
Richard Jones, head of policy and public affairs, IOSH http://ubm.io/1m1ErZ9
Join the debate
The Big Debate at the IOSH Conference tackles the question: Deregulation: evading responsibility or doing the 'right' thing? Speakers include Dr Shaun Lundy of the University of Greenwich, Hugh Robertson of the TUC, Gerard Forlin QC of Cornerstone Barristers and Kevin Furniss of AP Moller Maersk Terminals. Delegates will have the opportunity to contribute to the debate throughout the conference.
Register for the conference here: http://ubm.io/1m1EeoH
Video: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/71400542-SHP-IOSH-deregulation-bill
Contact:
Lindsey Bredin, +44-(0)207-921-8458