Provided by the TUC:
The TUC has said it will 'strongly oppose' any government moves to undermine workplace health and safety protection. The statement comes in a written submission to the government commissioned Löfstedt review of workplace health and safety. Ministers have directed the review to concentrate on 'easing unnecessary burdens on business'.
In response, TUC states: 'It does not support regulation for the sake of it, and has worked closely with the HSE on its simplification programme because that was a genuine attempt to ensure that the regulatory regime was effective.' But it adds the TUC 'does not believe however that regulation imposes any kind of burden on business. It is a responsibility, just as paying taxes is a responsibility, and no business should be able to operate unless it can do so safety.' The submission concludes: 'Regulation needs enforcement to be effective and the current level of enforcement activity is clearly inadequate.'
TUC says the review 'should confirm that health and safety regulation should be developed by an independent Health and Safety Executive, making recommendations to the government on regulations. This will ensure that regulations will have the support of all sides of industry and continue to be effective and simple.' It adds: 'The TUC will strongly oppose any attempt to reduce the level of protection at a time when over 20,000 people are killed every year as a result of work and 2.1 million are suffering from an injury or illness caused or made worse by work.'
The TUC submission notes that voluntary, 'self-regulation' approaches are not a viable alternative to regulation and enforcement, and have 'failed' where they have been tried.
