Health and safety: the state of play

摘要

HSB's latest biannual state-of-play table reviews HSE, government and other initiatives around occupational health and safety from 22 October 2019 to 31 March 2020 (HSB nos. 484 to 488 inclusive). The table also reports on the current position on legislative proposals in the UK and the EU, and provides an early warning of likely health and safety developments. With Brexit dominating recent state-of-play tables, as late as December 2019 we would have confidently predicted it would do so again, particularly after the Conservative Party's General Election success paved the way for the UK's departure from the EU on 31 January 2020. And while there are now critical negotiations ongoing with the EU over a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to fill the abyss that will otherwise exist at the end of the transition period on 31 December, which could have significant implications for workplace health and safety, Brexit and the FTA talks have paled against efforts to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.