The following has been adapted from a TUC document:
Health and Safety Executive
inspectors' union Prospect is urging members to sign a petition calling on the
government to remove an amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (ERR) Bill that would make it
harder for workers to claim legitimate compensation for injuries at work. The
amendment is designed to change civil liability laws in relation to health and
safety duties, but there has been uproar from Labour MPs, unions and lawyers at
the way it has been sneaked in via the ERR bill without any consultation. The
effect would be that workers would be unable to rely on an employer's breach of
health and safety law to win a personal injury claim. Instead they would have
to prove negligence. The move has also been opposed by the TUC. 'This proposal was introduced with no consultation and there is no
indication of what regulations the civil liability changes will apply to,' said
a TUC spokesperson. 'But it is a disgrace that they are
transferring the cost of an injury from the employer on to the worker, who will
already have suffered the pain and suffering.'
Sign the petition here.
