It was reported in the Telegraph earlier this year that the Government plans to relax the current Health & Safety Regulations to relieve pressure on employers and reducing the current level of inspections generally to help small businesses who may currently be struggling under the weight of the current legislation.
However when the HSE have reported in their provisional figures for 2010/11 that there have been in the region of 171 fatalities in main industries such as agriculture, energy provision, manufacturing and construction is this really a time when laws should be relaxed?
It is therefore of some concern that if regulations are relaxed then we will start to see a rise in more serious injuries at work and guilty employers may not be held to account.
Employers should always ensure that their employees are as safe as possible when carrying out their day to day jobs, lack of guards on machines, lack of safety equipment such as harnesses can result in a person suffering devastating injuries. This could result in a company paying thousands of pounds in compensation in addition to fines imposed by the HSE which may be seen to increase if companies are not monitored and not required to comply rigorously with Health & Safety regulations.
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