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 between 7 October 2014 and 20 April 2015 (HSB nos. 434 to 438 inclusive). The table also reports on the current position on legislative proposals, and provides an early warning of likely health and safety developments. The past six months have seen the HSE and the government implement the outstanding items on their health and safety agendas in the run up to the prorogation of parliament on 26 March. This brought an end to a five-year period that has been the most difficult for health and safety policy and enforcement since the HSW Act introduced the modern regulatory regime in 1974. There have been massive cuts in the funding of the HSE and local authorities, and a coalition government that has consistently used health and safety as a political tool for scoring cheap and misleading publicity that, in turn, has undermined the efforts of health and safety professionals and activists at the workplace. The government's increased politicisation of health and safety has resulted in a huge and time-consuming body of work for the HSE, even if much of the effort could have been better deployed elsewhere actually improving health and safety standards.