The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
Cost-cutting not deregulation is behind a package of measures announced by the government and will undermine the work of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the inspectors' union has warned. Prospect was commenting on the government's new safety strategy which will bring a further review of regulation, a dramatic reduction in proactive regulation - down by a third, a reduction of 11,000 inspections a year - and the introduction of more fees for employers when HSE inspectors find fault. Prospect negotiator Mike Macdonald said the new strategy 'shows that health and safety regulation in Britain is now driven by the government's wish to cut spending rather than by a professional assessment of what action saves lives and avoids accidents. The key question should be what type of regulation best suits British business and its workforce, not a simplistic dogma that all regulation is bad.' Commenting on the regulatory review, to be headed by Professor Ragnar E Lofstedt of King's College London, he added: 'It looks as if the government is determined to announce cuts before Professor Ragnar Löfstedt even starts his review. What happens if he concludes that more inspection, not less, is required?' Prospect members in HSE are convinced that proactive inspection is vital, not least because prevention is cheaper and better for business, employees and the taxpayer than the cost of putting lives back together after an accident, Macdonald said. He added: 'We understand that the removal of proactive inspection from lower-risk workplaces is one of the least damaging options. But the government should recognise that this still means lives are being risked to achieve 35 per cent budget cuts... We have to ask, is health and safety such a low priority that it deserves such a cut with the knock-on impact on taxpayers who work?'
