Scottish business lobby has concerns for HSE

Scotland's business lobby is facing a quandary about health and safety, torn between concern about the rapidly diminishing support provided by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and its more traditional opposition to regulatory controls. In evidence to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) said it was concerned by the prospect of an 'increasing disconnect' between the HSE and businesses operating in lower or medium-risk sectors. Giving evidence to the Committee on 26 October, the SCC's head of policy and public affairs, Garry Clark, told MPs that larger companies often have good and long-standing relationships with the HSE, and are backed by teams of dedicated health and safety staff; by contrast, smaller firms rarely have such support. SHP Online, produced by safety professionals' body IOSH, reports Clark told the committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the health and safety system in Scotland, a reduced HSE profile 'will make businesses more likely to have false perceptions of the weight of health and safety legislation and what impact it could have on their business.' According to SHP Online: 'This suggestion that curbs on regulatory inspections could actually cloud the legislative landscape for lower-risk firms and smaller businesses, rather than freeing them to expand and take on staff, would seem to blow a big hole in the government's policy on reducing so-called health and safety red tape.' Both SCC and the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) had worries about HSE's new charging regime, due to take effect next year. CIA's Phil Scott told the committee: 'There will be less clarity about when an inspector will come, what they will be looking at, and whether or not there will be a charge at the end. Most small to medium-sized businesses will not have a budget for this, so they will be faced with charges at a month's notice, on a month's invoice. They could be paying quite significant sums of money.'