Health and safety legislation is neither excessive nor damaging to innovation, Prospect has told an independent review ordered by the government. The review, headed by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt and due to report in the autumn, has been told by ministers to concentrate on 'easing' burdens on business. Prospect, which includes 1,500 Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors and specialists in its membership, is warning, however, that it is not regulation but non-compliance and poor interpretation of the rules that should be of greatest concern. The union is sceptical whether the review will carry any weight given the wider deregulatory agenda being pursued by government. Prospect deputy general secretary Mike Clancy said the government's 'Good Health and Safety, Good for Everyone' blueprint, launched in March 2011, 'provides further evidence of its deregulatory agenda given the removal, without consultation, of swathes of industry from HSE's preventive inspection regime. This is an irresponsible tactic that is designed solely to meet the cuts targets set by the comprehensive spending review.' Prospect says the safety system could be improved through measures to make health and safety simpler, with clear, concise, sensitive guidance, rather than being driven by the 'pejorative premise that health and safety is a burden to business.' According to Clancy: 'Shoddy interpretation and application of the law is at the heart of much of the negative media attention when, in fact, poor employer behaviour and management neglect are the main causes of the toll on the workforce.'
