Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Simplification plan
“[The NAO] survey focused on the five areas of law that...created the highest administrative burdens... responses relating to health and safety were consistently more positive than other areas..”
National Audit Office
Administrative burdens report [1]
July 2007
HSE engaged its stakeholders in the development of its first simplification plan. This included seeking comments on an early version in November 2005, which was posted on the HSE website. We also presented the plan to HSE’s Small Business Trade Association Forum (SBTAF) inviting comments and ideas for simplification.
For this, our second plan, HSE set up a stakeholder group of representatives from business (large and small), the voluntary sector, local authorities, and trade unions. This group discussed an early version of the plan and their input has been reflected in the final version. We also consulted a wider network of representatives of small business through the SBTAF e-Consultation.
Each initiative in this plan is developed and delivered in consultation with appropriate industry stakeholders. This ensures that HSC/E’s simplification programme is subject to regular and detailed scrutiny by bodies with the relevant industry sector expertise and experience.
The Better Regulation Executive also has a web portal through which stakeholders can submit proposals for regulatory simplification, which are then distributed to the relevant Government Department(s) for consideration. The Government is committed to responding within 90 days. Where appropriate these have been included in the plan. Since publication of the 2006 plan, HSE has received only five new suggestions. Two were rejected as they misinterpreted the requirements. Three, from individuals at Borough of Poole and Dupont Ltd, are being considered further as part of HSE’s project to improve information and guidance to SMEs.
HSE has worked closely with the Better Regulation Executive on their ‘Regulation and Business Advice’ report and the National Audit Office on their examination of the delivery of the administrative burdens reduction programme. A consistent thread running through the responses from businesses received as part of the research for these reports was the level of uncertainty and complexity experienced by dutyholders, in particular SMEs, when trying to understand the requirements that apply to them. HSE sees tackling this problem is a key feature of the simplification programme and is tackling it through initiatives such as Sensible Risk Management and the COSHH guidance project.
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