LAPS - Why get involved?

Effective partnership is crucial if we (that is everyone who has an interest in health and safety) are to meet the governments 'revitalsing' targets for 2004 and 2010.

Both the Health and Safety Commisssion and HELA (Health and Safety Executive/Local Authority Liaison Committee) are committed to the LAPS principle because it provides a unique opportunity for strategic working coupled with the benefit of improved consistency of enforcement.

To summarise LAPS helps organisations by:

• increasing consistency in the standards of health and safety in different LA areas;
• allowing them to deal with a single local authority
• providing a liaison point for key health and safety issues and proposed enforcement action;
• providing advice on how to improve health and safety performance.

What are the advantages for local authorities?

Business has changed in the UK with the advent of the 'new economy'. In recent years we have seen an unprecedented growth in the financial, hospitality and entertainment sectors all of which are LA enforced. These medium to large multi-outlet companies provide a great opportunity for LAs to demonstrate their ability to act strategically and consistently using the lead authority principle.

LAPS enables participating LAs to:

develop close links with businesses etc. to:

• improve standards of health and safety management and or guidance with benefits to LAs nationally;
• promote the HSC priority programmes across a whole organisation or sector;
• achieve recognition from HELA for the contribution made to local authority enforcement as a whole.