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This April there will be some changes in legislation which have been brought about by Professor Löfstedts Report, “Reclaiming Health and Safety for All".

Outlined below are the changes which come into force on the 6th April:

1. Revocation of the Construction Head Protection (CHP) Regulations 1989. These were brought about following a high number of head injuries on construction sites however many of the requirements are covered by the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 1992.
2. Regulation 3 of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulations 1992 will be revoked to allow for the above as this refers to the CHP Regs. The rest of the PPE Regs will stay as they are and will therefore cover the use of head protection where a risk of head injury is present.
3. The Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes Regulations 2010 and the amendment regulations 2013 will also be revoked. These regulations do not appear to have a direct improvement on safety standards and have proved costly for duty holders and the HSE.
4. In line with this revocation the removal of Regulation 21 and schedule 16 of the Health and Safety Fees Regulations are also required as these relate directly to cost involved in notification of tower cranes.

Following recent government initiatives to reform the current state of health and safety legislation the first progress report has been issued.

The Löstedt review published at the end of 2011 outlined 6 areas of reform and the Common Sense Common Safety report issued by Lord Young in October 2010 included 35 recommendations. This first progress report outlines closed out tasks including the following:

1. Evaluation of the Construction, Design and Management Regulations 2007, (CDM). Although the general conclusion of this evaluation is that the regulations work in principle, several issues have been raised.  (Watch out for more details on this in my next blog!)
2. A new publication has been issued relating to the requirements for PAT testing.
3. Two challenge panels have been set up to address incorrect applications of Health and Safety legislation. The Myth Busters Challenge Panel looks at complaints regarding advice from non-regulators such as insurance companies, health and safety consultants and employers. The Independent Regulatory Challenge Panel looks at complaints from businesses about decisions made by HSE or local authority inspectors.
4. An extension has been put in place for the requirements of reporting lost time accident under RIDDOR. See Blog April 2012.

The next phase of the reforms is to review many of the Approved Codes of Practice which are in place which outline how to apply the various regulations. This is a huge task with a target date of 2014 for 50% of all Health and Safety Legislation to be reviewed, removed or improved.

The full report is available to the public and can be found via the following link.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/progress-report-health-safety-reforms-june-12.pdf

On the 6th April 2012 changes will come into force relating to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrances Regulations.

These changes will relate to the period of lost time following an injury. The current requirement is for the Employer to report to the HSE, any injury which results in the injured employee being unable to carry out their normal duties for more than three days.

>From the 6th April the trigger point for reporting such injuries will increase from 3 days to 7 days (not counting the day of the injury)

There is still a requirement that employers keep a record of any injuries resulting in over three days lost time but these will not require reporting to the HSE unless they reach the 7 day trigger point. A record in the accident book will be enough in these cases.

There are to be no changes to the other reportable categories of reportable injuries or dangerous occurrances.

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