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Safety Inspections Face The Axe – A Good or Bad Thing?

Posted: 08 April 2011

Author: John Neil

With the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) facing a 35% shortfall in its funding it has been forced to look at how it allocates its precious resources. Part of this re-allocation will result in a fall of inspections by around a third or 11,000 a year.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) have approved this and also outlined proposals for the HSE to recover the costs of its inspection and investigation activities, as well as reviewing health and safety law. Costs of the inspection or investigation will be recouped where a serious material breach in standards is found and a requirement to rectify is formally made, together with the cost of any follow up work.

Safety minister Chris Grayling said these measures were needed to root out needless bureaucracy and foster common sense at the heart of the system.

Proactive inspections will be withdrawn from several lower risk industries such as transport, electricity generation, light and electrical engineering but will be retained in construction, waste and recycling and areas of high risk manufacturing.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is outraged at the decision. They believe it is in no ones interest and will increase the annual count of deaths and injuries, claiming that the removal of a credible threat of enforcement will only allow non-compliant employers to get away with harming more employees. In fact it could be argued that although some firms only receive an inspection every 13 years, if at all, the thought of a visit from the HSE tends to keep people on their toes.

The HSE hope to fill the void with more joint ventures with industry bodies to control specific risks and by targeting inspections on areas of greater risk. The regulation of major hazard industries will not be reduced.

Other areas have praised the HSE take on the inevitable by stating they are making decisions in the most sensible way by offering to share information and targeting high risk industries. They also plan to monitor the situation very closely and if there is a noticeable rise in industrial accidents they will no doubt be "banging on the governments door".

Many of the details of the new regime are still to be finalised but certain positives have already emerged. A new online resource called "Health and safety made simple" has been launched to guide SME’s through their basic health and safety duties. The DWP has also launched an online document entitled "Good health and safety. Good for everyone."

However do not take this reduction in inspections as a sign that the enforcing authorities are tempering their attitudes. Your chances of seeing an inspector may be reduced but if you are reported to the authorities or yourself report a serious incident or accident a visit is almost certain.