Why does it take so many words to ensure that people's safety and health is properly safeguarded? Accusations about health and safety 'red tape' abound. The perception that health and safety laws are a great mass of complex, prescriptive and virtually impenetrable detail setting out what dutyholders (employers, manufacturers and suppliers, clients etc) can and cannot do is still widespread. The Government has tried to respond to this perception by cutting what it calls regulatory 'red tape' - trying to simplify existing regulations and government guidance. To guide it in this task, two reviews of health and safety regulation have been carried out over the last four years (the latest in a long line since the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) was introduced in 1974). The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also had to go line by line through over 1,300 pieces of its official guidance.
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