Concern For Political Hi-Jacking Of Löfstedt Report Expressed By Report Author

As previously reported by Unionsafety, last week saw a conference entitled The future of health and safety law - in search of a 'common sense' approach run by Westminster Legal Policy Forum, at which Professor Ragnar Lofstedt and HSE Chairperson Judith Hackitt were guest speakers.

The professor, speaking at the event, confirmed that he was not in favour of radical reform, contrary to David Cameron’s attack earlier this month when he called  health and safety  a ‘monster’. He insisted he had never called for significant changes to legal policy and found no evidence of a compensation culture.

Asked by Prospect deputy general secretary Mike Clancy whether he had concerns about the government's treatment of his review, Professor Löfstedt replied: "I am concerned about it. I am concerned my review could be misused.”

He continued:

"But I am not going to go away, I have made my conclusions with policy makers and I want to engage with them. To be very clear, [employment secretary] Chris Grayling did not change one word in my review – there are politicians open to evidence and risk-based policy-making."

Löfstedt told the audience that his proposal to lift health and safety requirements for the self-employed applied only to those who could do no harm to others.

He explained that while novelists or computer programmers need not fill in assessment forms, the likes of construction and agriculture workers "should not and never will be" subject to more lenient health and safety rules.

Löfstedt also raised concerns about a reduction in site inspections and urged the government to engage more closely with the European Union over future legislation and to set up a committee in the House of Lords to examine the issue further.

Source: Prospect / Law Society Gazette

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