Policy paper

Good health and safety, good for everyone

The next steps in the government’s plans for reform of the health and safety system in Britain.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Documents

Good Health and Safety, Good for Everyone

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email accessible.formats@dwp.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

In 2010 the Prime Minister asked Lord Young of Graffham to review of health and safety law and the compensation culture. His report ‘Common Sense, Common Safety’ was published in October 2010.

The Prime Minister and the Cabinet accepted all of Lord Young’s recommendations and a range of government bodies are now involved in implementing them.

Lord Young’s recommendations were the important first step in the government’s plans for reforming Britain’s health and safety system. As the next step, on 21 March 2011, we published plans for further major reform in ‘Good Health and Safety, Good for Everyone’.

There are 3 main aspects to these further reforms. The government will:

  • launch an Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register to ensure that businesses have access to competent and ethical advice
  • move health and safety enforcement activity away from businesses that do the right thing and concentrate on high risk areas and dealing with serious breaches of health and safety rules
  • simplify health and safety legislation and guidance and in doing so ease the burden on business
Published 21 March 2011