July Deadline For Responses To The Löfstedt Review Of Health And Safety Legislation

As previously reported in April by Unionsafety, this month sees the deadline for comments on the governments plans and the review to be done by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt, director of the King’s Centre for Risk Management at King’s College, London.

The stated aim of the review according to the DWP website is:

"........ consider the opportunities for reducing the burden of health and safety legislation on UK businesses while maintaining the progress made in improving health and safety outcomes."

However, as USRs around the country and their Trade Unions are fully aware of the governments true aims to abolish as much health & safety legislation as possible; it is imperative that they all respond to the call for evidence which ends on 29 July 2011

Derek Maylor, Chair of the NW BTU Health & Safety Co-ord urges all concerned with health and safety to respond to the call for evidence:

"The only way we can influence the outcome of this review is to take part in it ourselves. We do not want the business community and the CBI to hold the high ground in this debate."

Derek continued:

" The fact is that the business community, with the exception of a few excellent companies, despite years and major attempts by the HSE to educate them; knows little about the implementation of health and safety in the workplace, nor does it understand the legislation. It is only the trade unions, Union Safety Reps and health and safety professionals who can make a balanced argument in defence of existing regulation and identify areas and practices that genuinely need changes."

Agreeing whole heartedly with Derek, Chris Ingram Unionsafety Editor said:

" This Government has the pathological and ideological hatred of anything which regulates business at its heart and cannot be trusted with the responsibility for the health safety and welfare of the people of this country. The abolition of Health & safety protection for workers is probably the one single issue that this Tory led coalition government has as its main priority along with the privatisation of the NHS and the removal of employment protection. Using the economic situation, which they distort and manipulate, in order to justify attacks on the working people of this country."

He concluded:

"It is of absolute and paramount importance that the Trade Union movement and its Union Safety Reps respond to the call for evidence in order to influence the review."

It is relatively easy to respond as explained on the DWP website:

" The call for evidence includes a list of specific questions against which we would welcome evidence. We also invite you to provide any other evidence and representations you think appropriate.

To provide evidence, you can complete the boxes in the RTF version of the call for evidence document. You can then save this to your computer and email it back to us at: review.healthandsafety@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

Alternatively you can print off a copy and send it to us at:

Health and Safety Review Team
Department for Work and Pensions
Level 2B
Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1H 9NA

You can download the RTF (rich text file) version of the response form here or by clicking on the pic to the right. Open and fill it in using any word processor.

The deadline for responses is 29th July

You can download a copy of the Löfstedt Review terms of reference document from the E-Library Database using the search term 'Lofstedt' and 'Acts'.

See also: The Loefstedt Review Of Health And Safety Legislation And Compensation.html which includes a key article from CWU's Dave Joyce on the review.

DWP website: www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2011/lofstedt-review-cfe.shtml

Source: unionsafety / DWP

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