Putting the 'Common' into Common Sense
April 1st 2011 There were no great surprises among the health and safety system reforms that have been announced by employment minister Chris Grayling in response to Lord Young’s report Common Sense, Common Safety. Measures include cutting HSE inspections by a third, the launch of a register of qualified safety consultants, the creation of an online package to help small and low risk employers and a review into health and safety law (see full story page 5).
Most of the safety community had its say on the measures when they were at the proposal stage, so other than seeing what the outcome of the review into health and safety law brings, it is on the whole now a case of waiting to see what the measures deliver.
But one group, notable by its relative silence since proposals to revamp the health and safety system have begun, is the insurance industry. While there are now measures in place to tackle the perceived ‘claims culture’ including restrictions on advertising and fees earned by “No Win, No Fee” lawyers, these plans don't seem yet to have filtered down to addressing how the insurance industry actually operates in relation to health and safety. This is concerning because anecdotally there is much evidence to suggest that it is insurance company inspectors rather than health and safety consultants who have given rise to many of the cases of over the top health and safety advice.
The secretary general of the BSIF Geoff Hooke raised this very issue in HSM last year at which time he called for a dialogue to be opened with insurers. At the time Geoff explained that many companies seeking health and safety insurance are subject to inspections by insurers and often these inspections are carried out by non-health and safety professionals. The problem with this lies in the fact that the purpose of these inspections is to evaluate the financial risk of a potential claim, but they are often perceived by site operators to be a stamp of approval for the safety measures they have in place, which Geoff explained couldn't be further from the truth. Lord Young highlighted the fact that the cooperation of the insurance industry will be essential in bringing about reforms to the UK’s health and safety system in Common Sense, Common Safety. So far the insurance industry has been vocal in welcoming changes such as the limitations to the “No Win, No Fee” system but little detail has come out about exactly what role it will play in bringing about reforms to the UK’s health and safety system. Let’s hope that it will be a full role because surely the key to the success of any policy which is based on “Common” Sense is the commitment of everyone involved to play their part.
Georgina Bisby
Editor
HSM
gbisby@western-bp.co.uk More articles from HSM News Desk: | 
