The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
The government has chosen the 40th anniversary of the Health and Safety at Work Act to make one of the most dangerous changes since the legislation came into effect in 1974, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has warned.
Writing in the Morning Star she says ministers have “decided that Britain’s 4.3 million self-employed people should no longer be subject to the provisions of the Act unless they also employ people or are on a prescribed list of occupations. This is a huge step backwards, and one that could lead to a big increase in deaths, injuries and ill-health.” Noting that the self-employed have a fatality rate twice that of employed workers, she adds that “their actions can also kill or injure other people through carelessness or negligence. When they do they should be treated just like anyone else.”
She says a provision in the government’s Deregulation Bill, which would mean only those self-employed in jobs on the prescribed list could be prosecuted if they kill or injury someone as a result of their negligence, “is virtually a licence to kill. It will be a green light to cowboys and incompetents to cut corners and take risks - not only with their own lives but also with ours.” The union leader concludes: “All the government’s proposals will do is create confusion. People who are genuinely self-employed will have no idea about their responsibilities, while employers will be even more likely to employ workers on bogus self-employed contracts in order to try to get round their legal responsibilities.”
