BOHS welcomes publication of Löfstedt review

We welcome the publication of the Löfstedt review of health and safety legislation.  “It is a balanced, evidence-based report which focuses on the issues which need to be addressed”, states Steve Perkins, BOHS Chief Executive.   

The headline conclusion of the review - that in general, the problem lies less with the regulations themselves and more with the way they are interpreted and applied - chimes with BOHS’s expressed view that such inappropriate application of health and safety regulations is principally of those linked to public safety and individual behaviour rather than those aimed at reducing workplace exposures to health hazards.   

Moreover, the review explicitly acknowledges the much greater burden on business and society from occupational ill-health as opposed to accidents, citing as an example the estimated 8,000 cancer deaths in Britain each year that are attributable to past workplace exposures to carcinogens.   “The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) has had a major impact in reducing occupational accidents, but more attention - through communication, training and enforcement – is needed to reduce the burden of chronic ill health arising from exposure risks in the work environment, such as those from chemicals or physical agents such as noise”, confirms Perkins. “The recommendations in the Löfstedt review will, at last, begin to refocus attention where it is needed - on the serious challenges in stemming the levels of exposure related death and disability in the UK.” 

In addition, we are particularly pleased at the recognition of the need to stimulate a wider debate about risk in society and how it should be regulated, and are supportive of the proposal to convene an expert group, under the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, to consider how to engage society in a discussion. 

The full report can be viewed on the DWP webiste: www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/health-and-safety/