| Initiative |
Nature of burden |
Description of measure |
Desired outcome |
Estimated savings / other quantification |
Delivery |
| Sensible Risk Management – A campaign tackling excessive reactions to risk assessment requirements. |
Policy |
Publication and wide promotion of a set of principles of sensible risk management particularly with Local Authorities.
To emphasise what does not need to be done as well as what does. |
A culture change, whereby dutyholders will feel risk assessment and management is proportionate and manageable. |
N/A |
July 2006: Revised ‘5 steps to risk assessment’ launched, emphasising a fit for purpose approach.
April 2007: Event organised with the former Department of Constitutional Affairs and local government employers for stakeholders on risk and redress.
May 2007: Guardian newspaper included a supplement on risk management.
Autumn 2007: Statement to health and safety advisors on competence / fitness for purpose published. |
| Forms Project |
Administrative |
Removal of all forms that are no longer necessary, approximately 54% of HSE forms |
Although most of these forms were rarely used and so not costly to business, their removal provides clarity and reduces the risk of error. |
According to ABME estimates, removing these forms has saved businesses £250,000 annually |
April 2007: all identified forms discontinued and/or deleted. |
| Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations 2005 |
Administrative |
The new regulations changed the frequency of resubmitting offshore safety cases from three years to five years |
Administrative costs reduced, and more efficient and less time-consuming reviews. |
Estimated administrative cost savings, calculated in the RIA, are £3.8 million |
April 2006: regulations in force. |
| ACoP on Zoos – Safety, Health and Welfare for Employers and Persons at Work 1985 |
Administrative |
The ACoP has been withdrawn and new guidance has been published |
Updated guidance to reflect current developments in the zoo industry, such as lay out of premises. |
The ABME estimated the ACoP requirements cost businesses £544,000 in administrative burdens – these costs have now been removed. |
December 2006: ACoP withdrawn and replacement guidance introduced. |
| Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 |
Administrative, policy and quantity of legislation |
One key set of consolidated regulations restructuring, simplifying and clarifying the Regulations, including simplifying the project notification threshold, requirements for formal appointments and plans, and the process for checking dutyholder competence |
To change attitudes and raise health and safety standards in the construction industry. The changes streamline regulatory requirements, eliminate unnecessary ones and simplify paperwork.
This aims to significantly reduce bureaucracy to construction sector, particularly SMEs. |
Annual cost savings (from simplified competence checking) are calculated in the RIA to be between £106 million and £226 million.
Estimated savings, according to the ABME data, is £3.6 million per year from clarifying and simplifying requirements relating to notification of construction projects. |
April 2007: regulations in force.
Q4 of 2008 / 09: phase 1 of the evaluation of regulations.
Q3 of 2009 /10: full evaluation starts. |
| Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 |
Administrative |
Consolidation of three regulations and reduction of guidance relating to asbestos.
The new regulations have removed the requirement for companies working with textured decorative coatings - common in domestic premises - to have an asbestos licence, and to notify HSE/ their LA. |
Making it easier to find what requirements apply to a business and so make compliance easier.
Removing the licensing requirement from work with textured decorative coatings significantly reduces the cost of doing this work for the contractor and so for the building-owning clients. |
According to the ABME estimates, the revised regulations will reduce administrative burdens on businesses by £27.7million per year |
November 2006: introduction of new regulations. |
| RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) |
Administrative requirement to report and keep records of certain work-related harm to employees and the public. |
Streamlining the communication of the RIDDOR reporting process to raise awareness, and influence attitudes to reporting, with the message that compliance need not be complex and burdensome.
Promoting the ease of reporting through the Incident Contact Centre (ICC) telephone/web reporting service. |
Businesses easily understand the 'ring and report' message to comply with RIDDOR and save time in reporting. |
The ABME estimated the recording and reporting requirements to take over 2.5hrs and cost £21 million.
Reporting via the call centre takes an average of 30 minutes. Thus, the estimated annual cost to business will be £4.4 million, a reduction of £16.5million |
Mar 07: Launch of new user-friendly HSE RIDDOR website
July 07: Introduction of a single page flyer with the 'ring and report' message. |
‘Core criteria’ for electrical contractors
Proposed by Electrical Contractors Association (ECA) to address the problem of a proliferation of contractor health and safety pre-qualification schemes that currently work to different standards. |
Policy |
With HSE support, ECA and Heating and Ventilating Contractors' Association (HVCA) launched health and safety core-criteria to their members.
Health and safety core-criteria, developed for inclusion in the proposed new Construction (Design and Management) Approved Code of Practice, create a common standard and aid recognition between various pre-qualification schemes. |
This will reduce the variation in standards required of contractors and so help them comply with legislation, and improve the cost effectiveness of assessing and delivering a good health and safety performance. |
The estimated saving, from RIA calculations, is £40,000 to £300,000 over first six months after launch, although these are not administrative savings.
Further savings will continue to be achieved across the electrical contracting industry following publication of the ACoP. |
September 2006: ECA/HVCA leaflet launched
February 2007: Publication of CDM ACoP |
List of all Health and Safety Regulations published on the internet
Suggested by Federation of Small Businesses to allow businesses to find easily what health and safety regulations are in force. |
Wider better regulation initiative |
A full list of HSE-owned regulations has been created on the HSE website, linked where possible to electronic copies of the regulations themselves and relevant guidance. |
A quick, simple route to locating health and safety regulations and requirements for businesses.
Benefits to all sectors, especially SMEs. |
In its first month the legislation webpages received nearly 24,000 hits.
Since then the pages have had an average of 22,200 hits per month. |
Oct 06: Legislation webpages went live. |
| Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations - guidance on labelling of drinking water |
Administrative |
Amending and promoting guidance to make it clear that businesses only need to label water when it should not be drunk. |
Substantial reduction in labelling water supplies, saving businesses time and money. |
HSE hopes to reduce administrative burdens by up to nearly £17 million of savings from the ABME estimate of £33 million for this requirement. |
Sept 2007: leaflet published.
Dec 2007: other guidance corrected and myth of the month produced.
August 2008: evaluation carried out. |
| Lifting Operations & Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) and Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) |
Policy and administrative |
Stage 1: Preliminary investigation into stakeholder views on having two sets of regulations, complexity, fitness for purpose.
Stage 2: Web-based guidance on examination of fork lift trucks.
Stage 3: New guidance on thorough examination of lifting equipment.
Stage 4: Review of position following guidance |
To clarify requirements on how often and how to carry out examinations of lifting equipment. |
The overall target reduction from work to clarify requirements from these pieces of legislation has been set by HSE at £33 million, bringing costs for complying with LOLER down from £144 million to £111 million.
Savings will be quantified following evaluation in 2009. |
Stage 1: Completed Sept 2006
Stage 2: Guidance to be published Dec 2008
Stage 3: Guidance published June 2008
Stage 4: Evaluation will be undertaken in early 2009 to establish the effect of the guidance. |
