Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Simplification plan
In addition to the work on reducing administrative burdens, HSE is also committed to the wider better regulation agenda, for example, implementing the recommendations of the Hampton report1. Working to the Hampton agenda impacts positively on HSE’s relationship with those it regulates and helps HSE to achieve its regulatory outcomes in a way that minimises burdens on businesses.
In 2007, HSE was reviewed on its implementation of the recommendations in the Hampton report. HSE’s Hampton Implementation Review (HIR) was carried out by officials from BRE, the National Audit Office, the Office of Fair Trading and LACORS. HSE’s HIR report, published in March 2008, commented positively on many aspects of HSE’s performance as a regulator, recognising that HSE is transparent and accountable and that it aims to minimise the burden of regulation on business whilst maintaining health and safety standards.
The report also identified a few key issues for HSE to address, including:
HSE had already identified many of the areas highlighted for improvement and is continuing to address these issues as outlined below.
In 2006, HSE initiated a Fine Tuning Review, which was designed to improve the targeting of interventions and to introduce more discretion at local level. Recommendations of the review included improving targeting and intelligence through a regional intelligence officer role (currently being piloted across the country), and making better use of information from sources including complaints from the public and intelligence from local authorities.
By the end of 2008, HSE will have taken steps to improve the quality and range of available intelligence and developed a variety of approaches to make better use of it to target dutyholders. HSE is also examining ways to improve targeting and intelligence at a local level, as well as looking at how targeting and intelligence informs HSE’s plans.
HSE has also devised a segmentation framework to aid decision making in determining where and how to target resources and what interventions to use to maximise impact. The framework has three stages: segmenting the audience; targeting the audience; and positioning the intervention to meet the needs of the audience. In February 2008, HSE used this methodology with an asbestos campaign, and also trialled various media routes to help develop a better understanding of how to reach this audience most effectively. HSE has subsequently agreed the development of an action plan to implement the process more widely to inform the planning of its conventional proactive work at strategic, cross-HSE and local levels.
In December 2007, HSE endorsed a proposed position statement on “rogue” businesses. HSE is increasingly sharing intelligence and working with other regulators, to tackle those who might undermine health and safety messages. HSE’s Enforcement Policy Statement, Enforcement Management Model and the Code for Crown Prosecutors provide an effective framework for enforcing consistently against the full range of employers, including those who persistently flout the law.
HSE is considering a pilot exercise to ascertain the health and safety benefits of tackling rogue businesses; this will be considered following the publication of HSE’s new strategy. In addition, part of the role of the regional intelligence officer is to help identify and target poor performers.
HSE’s current approach to improving the influence of advice and guidance is set out in its existing strategy2. This approach has been backed up by a number of key initiatives, including the Sensible Risk Management campaign, the Fit3 Strategic Delivery Programme, embedding the “think small first” approach when drafting guidance, as well as the work on segmentation outlined above.
HSE has used an “insight” approach to gain a better understanding of the health agenda. The “insight” approach is a structured method to develop an understanding of the audience and what motivates the behaviour identified for change. The strategic conclusions of the “insight” approach to health will feed into the development of HSE’s future strategy on the health at work agenda. The approach is also being applied to the agriculture sector, a sector which HSE has only had limited success in influencing.
As part of its work to improve understanding of the “reach” of guidance, HSE is carrying out research on warehouse guidance published in 2007.
HSE’s work in response to the Enterprise Strategy on assisting small firms, as well as HSE’s review of its own strategy, are likely to feed into work in this area in the next year.
In addition to addressing the key issues for improvement, HSE has continued to work on initiatives that support the recommendations of the Hampton report. The recommendations cover six areas looking at regulation and enforcement. HSE’s work in these areas is outlined below.
HSE has developed a range of internal and external tools to embed better regulation principles when developing policies and legislation. These include:
HSE’s Hampton Implementation Review report noted that HSE has good internal challenges in place and that the organisation demonstrates high levels of consultation with stakeholders. It commented that:
“Overall, the review team found that the HSE generates robust, well researched Impact Assessments, which set out and quantify the implications of new regulations and policies.”
HSE’s Hampton Implementation Review report, March 2008
HSE’s HIR noted that HSE puts a lot of emphasis on providing advice and guidance through a variety of methods. Some of the key methods and projects are outlined below:
Alongside local authorities, HSE is responsible for enforcing health and safety legislation in Great Britain. HSE continues to work to the regulatory principles set out in its Enforcement Policy Statement (EPS), which states that enforcement decisions must be targeted, transparent, proportionate, consistent and accountable. HSE is updating the EPS to reflect factual changes, for example the merger between HSC and HSE.
From April 2008, HSE must also have regard to the provisions of the Regulators’ Compliance Code. The Code applies when regulators determine their general policies or principles about how they exercise their regulatory functions, and when they set standards or give general guidance. HSE was already acting in accordance with the Code prior to its introduction and has published a statement on its website outlining how it complies with the Code.
HSE has continued to develop its joint working with other regulators as part of its commitment to being a modern regulator. Working with other regulators can be highly beneficial for businesses, through saving time from duplication of efforts for inspections and experiencing a consistent, joined-up approach. Examples of joint initiatives in the last year include:
HSE’s partnership project with local authorities has continued to provide a more co-ordinated, consistent and effective enforcement service. This project plays a key role in improving health and safety outcomes, through local authorities delivering activities such as providing advice and guidance. The project set a target of 80% of local authorities working towards HSE’s Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets in April 2008. This figure was exceeded, with approximately 95% of local authorities working towards the targets.
HSE’s Large Organisation Partnership Pilot (LOPP) project aims to ensure that firms’ priorities are taken properly into account by regulators, and regulatory interventions better tailored to the firms’ needs, avoiding interventions that are irrelevant or redundant. This, in turn, will lead to more effective and efficient use of regulators’ resources. External consultants have been engaged to undertake a ‘lessons learnt’ study of the pilot and make recommendations for future regulatory engagement with large organisations. The report on this research is planned for publication in December 2008.
HSE is committed to reducing and simplifying the data it requires from business. This includes work such as HSE’s forms project, which has already removed 54% of forms with work being taken forward to remove a further 9 forms.
HSE’s Business On-line project aims to make HSE’s external forms electronic and interactive, savings businesses time in completing and submitting these forms. In June, a construction notification form (the F10) was the first form to be transferred into this format. HSE is planning to make further forms electronic and interactive over the next 18 months, starting with an asbestos notification form – the second highest used form by business after the F10.
HSE’s HIR report noted that HSE’s forms team performs a challenge role for the introduction of new forms, and that in practice HSE has introduced few new forms in recent years. It commented that:
“The forms we reviewed appeared simple and easy to complete and had clear guidance notes”.
HSE’s Hampton Implementation Review report, March 2008
HSE’s HIR report noted that HSE has developed tools and policies that encourage a consistent approach to enforcement, as outlined above on the Enforcement Policy Statement. The report noted, however, that in terms of an effective sanctioning regime for health and safety, levels of fines for offences are low.
However, the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 20083, which comes into force on 16 January 2009, should lead to an increase in levels of fines in the courts. The new Act raises the maximum penalties for health and safety offences in the lower courts and broadens the range of offences for which an individual can be imprisoned in both the lower and higher courts. This should lead to a more effective sanctioning regime for health and safety, with tougher, more commensurate punishment of health and safety offences; more effective deterrents against regulatory non-compliance; and greater efficiency in the dispensation of justice contributing to the wider Government criminal justice agenda.
The Macrory review4 examined ways to improve compliance among businesses. One recommendation, which has been taken forward in the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008, was to introduce a system of new penalties, such as fixed monetary penalties. Following the introduction of the Act, HSE and local authorities are continuing to explore the potential for using alternative penalties to deal with health and safety offences.
HSE’s Enforcement Programme concluded in December 2007. Its primary aim had been to develop proposals to enable HSE and local authorities to make best use of formal enforcement in the delivery of health and safety priorities alongside the enabling of justice. During the course of its work the programme examined HSE’s and local authorities’ formal enforcement activities and made recommendations or took action under four principal work streams:
HSE is currently reviewing its existing strategy, which is aimed at helping achieve targets, and brings a clearer focus on the overall direction and gives priorities for the health and safety system as a whole. Following this review, HSE will produce a new strategy to take forward the health and safety system for the next few years.
In the last year, HSE has continued with delivery of its Fit3 Programme (Fit for Work, Fit for Life, Fit for Tomorrow). The programme was specifically designed to deliver HSE’s Public Service Agreements to reduce the number of workplace fatal and major injuries, cases of ill health, and the number of working days lost as a result.
Fit3 is focused on achieving outcomes – in this case, achieving a real and sustained change in the behaviour of employers and employees with regard to how health and safety is managed in their places of work.
Fit3 concentrates its activities on those areas that create the highest number of injuries or cases of ill health. The programme works in partnership with HSE’s field inspectors, key stakeholders, and health and safety inspectors from every local authority in Britain, and uses a range of interventions to achieve its desired outcomes, such as media and PR activity, stakeholder engagement, and investigation and enforcement.
The Fit3 programme will end in 2009. Work is currently underway to plan how the changes that have already been successfully achieved can be further embedded, and this will be a key component in making a success of HSE’s new strategy.
The Hampton report also recommended mergers between regulators to reduce the number of small regulators. Since its publication, HSE has taken over responsibility for the health and safety functions of the Engineering Inspectorate and the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority. In April 2008, the Pesticides Safety Directorate became an agency of HSE; responsibility for the related policy has remained with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
Following the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in August 2007 the Government requested several reviews on biosecurity and biosafety. One of these reviews was led by Sir Bill Callaghan. Several recommendations were made, all of which were accepted by Government. One recommendation is to produce a single regulatory framework for deliberate work with human and animal pathogens. The new regulations, which are likely to come into effect in April 2010, will ensure a more effective and efficient delivery of biological agent regulations such that the system provides an assurance that the risk of accidental release is close to zero.
As well as working to the Hampton agenda, HSE is also working with other government departments to simplify requirements and produce a joined-up approach. Work in this area is outlined below.
HSE is working with the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) on identifying opportunities to minimise any detrimental impact of risk assessment on SMEs in relation to health and safety issues, including fire. CLG is responsible for the legislative requirement for a fire risk assessment to be carried out in all non-domestic premises. HSE and CLG will work together to investigate the scope of further supporting SMEs in complying with the relevant legislation and to streamline and, wherever possible, integrate the risk assessment process. HSE and CLG will also seek to involve LACORS for areas where LAs enforce health and safety legislation. The aim is to facilitate compliance and improve regulatory outcomes for SMEs.
HSE is also working with CLG on a long term aim of examining possibilities for better integration between the Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) regime and the Planning and Building Control regime. The intention is to reduce burdens on businesses, in particular SMEs or one-off / occasional construction clients, through a joined-up approach. Initially HSE and CLG are planning to provide clearer signposting through links between HSE’s CDM webpages and CLG Planning Portal website. It is anticipated that links will be established between the Building Control pages on the Portal and the HSE website before the end of 2008. The medium term goal will examine possibilities to simplify the notification procedures for construction work through the providing of links to the Planning Portal.
HSE has developed the Local Authority Construction Engagement (LACE) project, which aims to support the involvement of Local Authorities (LAs) in promoting construction health and safety. LAs are encouraged to provide health and safety information to dutyholders, particularly small or occasional construction clients, through different methods – for example, through web site links or by distributing leaflets. LAs are also encouraged to act as “eyes and ears” for HSE, where serious construction health and safety issues are identified, particularly where public risk is concerned. The project is also looking at how Environmental Health (Health and Safety) Inspectors can best be involved in the promotion and enforcement of CDM, for example, where they are the Enforcing Authority for the ultimate user of a new-build workplace.
HSE is also supporting and encouraging work in developing a standard process for assessing health and safety competence in the construction industry. The Safety Schemes in Procurement – Competence Forum (SSIP-C Forum), formed of a group of businesses involved in third party accreditation and supported by HSE, has established a "Forum Management Group".
This Group is progressing work on establishing the “Safety in Procurement Ltd” company, to provide the means for formally managing the aim of the Forum to "facilitate mutual recognition between health and safety prequalification schemes wherever it is practicable to do so". A staged launch is planned from April 2009. The overall aim is to simplify the pre-qualification process for SMEs through reducing paperwork and duplication of efforts.