“Health and Safety” is often incorrectly used as a convenient excuse to stop what are essentially sensible activities going ahead.
The Health and Safety Executive has set up an independent panel – the Myth Busters Challenge Panel – to scrutinize such decisions.
The Panel is chaired by the HSE Chair Judith Hackitt, with HSE Board member Robin Dahlberg as the Vice-Chair and they are supported by a pool of independent members who represent a wide range of interests. This includes small businesses, public safety, trade union, the insurance industry and many outside interests where day-to-day common sense decisions on risk management are made.
This Panel will look into complaints regarding the advice given by non-regulators such as insurance companies, health and safety consultants and employers and, quickly assess if a sensible and proportionate decision has been made. We want to make clear that “health and safety” is about managing real risks properly, not being risk averse and stopping people getting on with their lives.
If you think a decision or advice that you have been given in the name of health and safety is wrong, or disproportionate to what you are doing, you can complain to the panel. It will investigate and publish its findings on the HSE website.
Contact the panel
Please submit your comments below.
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A Person
24 May 2012
I work for a health and safety consultancy firm and I think that influence of the advice given by some in my industry can add unnecessary bureaucracy. This new panel may help to streamline some of the regulation so that the focus is on the safety risks that have a real impact, which overall will be a good thing.