‘Revitalising Health and Safety at Work'
An Evaluation of the Government’s/HSC’s Response to Consultation
Annex 1 - RoSPA Press Release
7th June 2000
"GOVERNMENT MUST LEAD ‘REVITALISING’ H&S BY EXAMPLE"
New Government plans to be announced today provide an ambitious framework for putting much needed ‘zip’ back into health and safety after 25 years of the Health and Safety at Work Act the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said today.
Welcoming the proposals for ‘revitalising health and safety at work’, Roger Bibbings, RoSPA Occupational Safety Adviser, said ‘the Government and the Health and Safety Commission have reacted positively to last year’s public consultation exercise, including many of the ideas suggested by RoSPA for strengthening the ‘three pillars’ of good health and safety performance: board level leadership; effective management; and strong workforce involvement’.
‘Plans to make board-level directors more directly accountable for corporate health and safety performance and setting standards for health and safety management are both major steps forward’ he added.
‘The biggest challenge however will remain that of making decent standards of protection a reality for millions of workers employed in small and medium-sized enterprises where health and safety law is often a dead letter’.
‘RoSPA welcomes: the commitment to tougher enforcement; the idea of compulsory retraining for offenders; the strategic commitment to occupational health; plans to embed safety and risk concepts in education; incentivising better performance; and developing ‘joined up’ approaches with other agencies such as the Small Firms’ Service so that health and safety becomes an integral part of the development of new businesses.’
Roger Bibbings added: ‘Delivering all that is envisaged cannot be achieved by the Government alone. But it is vital that Government is seen to lead the ‘revitalising’ agenda by example, making sure that Government Departments and agencies achieve excellence themselves and insisting on high health safety standards in all Government procurement processes’.
‘Government needs to shows itself to be fully committed, not just as a regulator but also as an employer and a client - otherwise there will be a credibility gap and it will be much harder to unlock untapped sources of energy and expertise inside the health and safety system to make health and safety happen’.
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RoSPA is a registered charity: Registered Charity No: 207823 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen RoSPA Head Office: Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK |
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