Löfstedt Review

Exempting from health and safety law those self-employed whose work activities pose no potential risk of harm to others.

HSE should also continue to help businesses understand what is 'reasonably practicable' for specific activities where the evidence demonstrates that they need further advice to comply with the law in a proportionate way.

HSE should also be the Primary Authority for multi-site national organisations.

All those involved should work together with the aim of commencing health and safety prosecutions within three years of an incident occurring.

The House of Lords be invited to set up a Select Committee on risk or establish a sub-committee of the Science and Technology Committee to consider how to engage society in a discussion about risk; and in parallel, the Government asks the Chief Scientific Adviser to convene an expert group aimed at addressing the same challenge. The outcomes of such work need to be disseminated widely across Parliament, policy makers, academics and the public.

The Government works more closely with the Commission and others, particularly during the planned review in 2013, to ensure that both new and existing EU health and safety legislation is risk-based and evidence-based. As well as working with the EU on specific regulatory proposals or amendments: all proposed Directives and regulations (and amendments to them) that have a perceived cost to society of more than 100 million Euros should go through an automatic regulatory impact assessment; those who are responsible for developing the Impact Assessments should be different from those who have drafted the Directives or regulations; a stronger peer review is introduced through a stronger, more independent EU Impact Assessment Board, or that a separate, independent, powerful regulatory oversight body is established, modelled on the US Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

A European Parliamentary Committee is established to look at risk-based policy making that could assist EU regulators and policymakers to regulate on the basis of risk and scientific evidence; the UK Government works with the Commission to introduce greater clarity and raise awareness around social partner agreements, and to ensure that Impact Assessments are produced for agreements before they are adopted as a Directive.

HSE should review all its ACoPs. The initial phase of the review should be completed by June 2012 so businesses have certainty about what is planned and when changes can be anticipated.

HSE undertakes a programme of sector-specific consolidations to be completed by April 2015.

Legislation is changed to give HSE the authority to direct all local authority health and safety inspection and enforcement activity, in order to ensure that it is consistent and targeted towards the most risky workplaces.

The original intention of the pre-action protocol standard disclosure list is clarified and restated and that regulatory provisions that impose strict liability should be reviewed by June 2013 and either qualified with 'reasonably practicable' where strict liability is not absolutely necessary or amended to prevent civil liability from attaching to a breach of those provisions.

The following regulations should be revoked: The Notification of Tower Cranes Regulations 2010 and the Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes (Amendment) Regulations 2010 – because the Impact Assessment was not able to identify any quantifiable benefits to health and safety outcomes; The Celluloid and Cinematograph Film Act 1922 (Exemptions) Regulations 1980 and the Celluloid and Cinematograph Film Act 1922 (Repeals and Modifications) Regulations 1974 that are no longer needed to control health and safety risks; The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989 that duplicate responsibilities set out in the later Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.

The following regulations should be amended, clarified or reviewed: The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 should be amended to remove the requirement for HSE to approve the training and qualifications of appointed first-aid personnel; The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and the associated ACoP evaluation should be completed by April 2012 to ensure there is a clearer expression of duties, a reduction of bureaucracy and appropriate guidance for small projects; The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) and its associated guidance should be amended by the end of 2013 to provide clarity for businesses on how to comply with the requirements; The requirement for portable appliance testing should be further clarified (including through changes to the wording of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 if necessary) by April 2012 to stop over-compliance and ensure that these messages reach all appropriate stakeholder groups; The Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the associated guidance should be reviewed by April 2013 to ensure that they do not lead to people going beyond what is either proportionate or beyond what the legislation was originally intended to cover.

HSE commissions research by January 2012 to help decide if the core set of health and safety regulations could be consolidated in such a way that would provide clarity and savings for businesses.

HSE should redesign the information on its website to distinguish between the regulations that impose specific duties on businesses and those that define 'administrative requirements' or revoke/amend earlier regulations.