The prime minister has again described the application of health and safety laws as a barrier to enterprise, during his keynote speech to delegates at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.
David Cameron’s comments appeared to contradict the Government’s recent lament at the use of health and safety as an excuse to hide unpopular decisions behind, and its insistence that correctly-applied health and safety legislation is a force for good.
He told delegates that the Conservatives valued community spirit and social action, adding: “That’s why we’re giving neighbourhoods new powers to take over the running of parks, playgrounds and pubs.”
However, in describing the obstacles to volunteering, he suggested that “the shadow of health and safety” is holding people back from such activities. He said: “I was told recently about a school that wanted to buy a set of highlighter pens. But, with the pens, came a warning: not so fast — make sure you comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, including plenty of fresh air and hand and eye protection. Try highlighting in all that!
“This isn’t how a great nation was built. Britannia didn’t rule the waves with arm-bands on. So, the vetting and barring scheme — we’re scaling it back; CRB checks — we’re cutting them back. At long last, common sense is coming back to our country.”
IOSH reacted with disappointment to the speech. Said head of policy and public affairs, Richard Jones: “We think it’s a shame that the prime minister’s speech mistakenly cites health and safety as “holding people back” — the opposite is true!
“Good health and safety enables enterprise and volunteering to happen successfully and so helps ensure sustainability and growth. It’s all about good sense and proportionality and we simply don’t recognise the negative picture being painted here — it isn’t real health and safety.”
In August, Employment minister Chris Grayling conceded that it is misconceptions about and misapplication of health and safety legislation — rather than the laws themselves, or health and safety professionals — that have contributed to its negative image.
what an excellent post i fully agree with you. there are far too many people in safety who know the books but know eff all about safety. they seem to be solely reliant upon ” hey look at me im cmiosh so therefore i know everything there is to know” utter tosh.
The PM seems to have adopted a blantant disregard for the safety of workers and young people and takes every opportunity to make a joke of health and safety. Safe workers are competent, efficient and above all productive workers. Unemployment, government cuts, no pay rises are some of the issues holding people back. Defence cuts are why we do not rule the waves anymore. Do we hear the PM mention that? The PM is the joke not health and safety.
I do feel the negative message will not work, Mr Cameron cites with nostalgia that we were once a great nation with common sense. We also had a population of people who accepted responsibility and accountability who were diligent and concientious not how they are now just in it for themselves and damn evryone else, this is why our laws have been misapplied and misinterpreted. Don’t jump on the health and safety bandwagon Mr Cameron, try and instill some pride, some real British values !
What does a politician do when their governement are being perceived as inept with regard to the thing they are completely responsible for ?
Whenever the economy is in trouble you can expect our “leader” to try and divert attention away from the incompetence of the government (I don’t think the other lot would be doing any better). H&S is an easy target for a quick diversion and he’ll use it whenever he feels the need to cover up his own lack of leadership ability.
For a long time I have been appalled by the stupidity of some of the health
and safety “professional”. People expected to wear ear defenders when there is little noise, wearing plastic hats (safety helmets) when ther is no chance of an object falling on them or the only objects weigh tons and recently a television program where the presenters were wearing high vis. jackets and plastic hats where sensible safety gear would have been a breathing mask and a life jacket. I for support Mr. Cameron.
I don’t think Cameron is contradicting himself…the example he gives clearly illustrates H&S being over zealously applied, PPE with highlighter pens, please give me a break! It’s not the law that’s the problem, it’s how it’s being applied that’s causing the confusion.
There are 3 good indicators that this story is not valid. One. He was “told it” , this is called plausible deniability, if it is a lie it is not his lie. Two he was “told recently”, that is an indicator that the story itself is probably not recent, this means that it would be hard to track the origin, and Three the school only “tried to buy” the pens, so the box never arrived, so the warning is nowhere around anymore, so the truth cannot be established. Always look for such clues in PR.
Attacking COSHH only enforces non compliance by the easily misslead.
We bemoan these type of statements by the PM yet the great british public allowed him to gain this advantage.
Any expectation that IOSH or HSE will strongly object is politically naive.
I think its time to look for another job!! I don’t mean that complete ***** (although what a good idea that would be) I mean me!
I have a hard enough job as it is trying to protect people and convince then that their safety matters, without the Prime minister of this country decrying it. What a great excuse they all have now!!!!
You don’t wear ear-defenders when there is little noise! You wear them when it has been measured that you need them! You don’t always wear a Hard Hat to stop things falling on your head, you wear them to protect you if yopu bang your head aswell (ie Construction workers on scaffolding)
PPE is worn when it has been determined that it is necessary!
I bet you’d be the first to make a claim if you tripped on a paving slab, or banged your head on a brick wall……OH forgot thats what I’m doing!!
Once again the Tories use Health & Safety as a reason to get cheap votes.
The PM should spend less time with the bankers and directors and a bit more time with those affected by failures in the application of the current Health & Safety laws rather harking back to the days of Nelson. It would be interesting to see how he’d react if his family were hurt.
I look forward to the mob braying for blood when the first incident occurs because someone wasn’t CRB checked or vetted or barred.
Cameron is badly advised, just as he was about paying off credit card bills.
Sadly he hasn’t got the personal, real life experience to challenge and get to an inspirational message that will lift our spirits.
Maybe Mr Cameron wants to divert our attention away from other risks such as the floods in Southern England which he has failed to manage properly along with his “Cobra team”?
How many millions wasted and lives upset due to poor preventative measures and contingency plans shown to be wanting.
His words “..the shaddow of H&S” i.e. it is others hiding behind the words. I work with the nuclear industry (scary?) No! even Fukushima had very few deaths! it sounds dangerous and is emotive. (but it is safe – someone should sort out road deaths first perhaps!)
If highlighters are used at work then they should know hazards so don’t need to be told. (their own H&S advisor will do that). If used not in work then COSHH does not apply!
p.s. it is the manufacturer at fault not the school.
For God’s sake is it beyond IOSH, ROSPA and all the other August safety bodies to refrain from using the soft, moralising, persuasive but obviously ineffective approach to MPs, which only results in more hand wringing and despair because they just don’t get it, and simply provide the real, basic data on work related deaths, injuries and ill health and the costs to a struggling economy – they only understand numbers, not moral arguments.
Cameraon should take a history lesson. The first (British) safety laws were brought in to give a commerical adavantage to large, wealthy businesses who were being undercut by unscrupulous ones who exploited child labour and inhuman conditions in their factories.
Tory regimes of the last 30yrs take the opposite view, that competition is good, even at the cost of health, safety and welfare. They see regulatory control as an unnecessary burden on business.
Oh, and only working class people get killed in factories, and only working class children get killed on under resourced school trips, so it doesn’t really effect the Camerons of this world or indeed the captains of industry.
It is my view that he should actual employ a speech writer who has actually read in to these stories and tells the truth.
Health and safety is needed, but it must be practised in a sensible way with adequate advice given (as many practitioners do). Surely he should be looking at cutting the complex regulations regarding tax, etc, which far out weight those for health and safety.
Finally, IOSH is not the only professional organisation representing safety practitioners.
Oh Dear, once again the PM gets it horribly wrong, ill informed statements such as this feeds this perception of us all being killjoys and detached from the real world etc etc, yes Mr Grayling did (correctly) concede it was misconceptions & misapplication Of H&S legislation only for Mr Cameron to once again complete a U turn.
Cameron should read about some of the appalling injuries and suffering due to lax H&S in businesses and maybe he would re-think his position. As the ‘leader’ of this country he should be upholding and re-inforcing the need for H&S legislation not making fun of it. What an idiot!!
What is this portraying to companies? And to employees? There currently is a major lack of concern for the health and safety in many workplaces and his comments are just damaging.
He is being petty and not getting facts correct at all. Highlighter’s are now made with non-hazardous components. His example was pathetic and a lie. Is he going to focus on companies that don’t bother with health and safety? that continue to break the law? What a pathetic little man he truly is.
People, get a life! Health & Safety has always been about common sense. But, as in all walks of life, there are “jobsworths” who misinterpret the laws and regard themselves as the “Fun Police.” The HSE, IOSH and the Government are full of them, because they regard letters after your name as proof of competence. Who will Cameron blame when the children are rushed to hospital vomiting and complaining of headaches? Of course H&S sometimes holds people back! With Good Reason!
Other posters are so right – its the misinterpretation of silly people whop make our job so much more difficult that it is – and its difficult enough to get the message through. Schools and local authorities twist legislation in case they are sued for perceived ‘wrong doing’- just as they make silly rules and regulations in case someone may be offended.
Its a shame that most people forget that good safety saves life’s, when you have faced your darkest day and the government have added their punishment for bad safety,
its only then you know that the right kind of safety drives business and protects everyone.
I would like to remind the government safety legislation is passed by them? and if they have a problem with it , deal with it like most business have to.
Cameron you will not win a second term by down grading peoples life’s.
Did anyone really expect anything different – just another vox pop to appease the ‘informed majority’
The sad thing is that maybe, just maybe, the statement is true – I hope not (it could be just another ‘cat walk’!)
Isnt it a shame that Mr Cameron has to use H&S as a screen to hide the reality of this country. We need leadership not excuses. Health and Safety has given a lot of people longer and safer lives over the years the main issue is people interpreting the laws and guidance incorrectly.
Whatever Mr Jones says, David Cameron is right, whether it is directly through the fact of the regulations or (more commonly) through the extreme interpretation of those rules. The rules play directly into the hands of the councils and other public bodies, with their ‘job creation scheme’ mentality and their ignorance of real risk. More importantly, they do not need to take any account of cost because all that is passed back to the tax payer.
Putting the “Great” into Britain occured in 1701. A time when we traded in slaves, invaded other countries taking their resources as our own, imposed servitude over the wishes of entire nations, sent boys up chimneys, press-ganged men to their death on horrendous ships, when London swam in gin as mothers tried to forget their misery, where if you went to court you were on your own against rich men, when women had no vote.
Live in the UK now and be asked a banal question about COSHH? Yes please.
Mr Cameron, can you plase prodive the name of the School?
Typical Tory Idealogy
for the leader of a Country to make such dangerous and un-substanfiated statements for politcal popularity is nothing short of disgraceful. Good H&S assists not obstructs.
I worry that all the hard work and fantastic results gained from H&S legislation, and those who take a pragmatic approach to it, gets lost in petty sideswipes because of those who totally misrepresent and interpret H&S law. I am fed up with being tarred with the same brush as those who hide behind H&S legislation.
Let’s have something from the government of what is actually good in the profession
Steve, I feel I must take issue with your comments. not your support for the PM (your choice in a democratic society) but your attack on people like me who you “have no time for”. I got involved with H&S when a close friend died at work. twenty years on, I am still raw about it.
I don’t know you and you don’t know me, so please do not tar all with the same brush
Sadly the country is currently being led by a PR man who lacks any values, he’ll do anything for an applause, just like Theresa May’s lie yesterday about the cat. The tories want to strip away the rights of the people and they are happy to lie as and when needed.
IOSH need to publicly condemn this statement as the utter rubbish it is, make this man look like the fool he is.
Disgraceful! Utterly disgraceful!
An easy smokescreen to attempt to put people off the real reasons why the country’s industry is in the state it is. Ask the folks at Bombardier and other industries in a similar position if they believe the reason for their job losses is down to H&S.
Hopefully Mr Cameron will never have to deal with the consequences of a serious workplace accident within his family.
Mr Cameron is about as accurate with his highlighter pens as the Home Secretary is blaming a cat for blocking a deportation. While he can make these facetious comments in front of the Party faithful, he has nothing to say on the increase in work related fatal accidents in the last year. No highlighting of the current HSE estimated annual 12,000 deaths due to exposure to substances at work. Yet again reality is ignored as soundbites are paraded as evidence!!
I despair. It suggests to me that they really haven’t got a grip on the economy if they have to divert attention on to phantom ElfnSafety stories. I wonder what proportion of the population will actually believe the highlighter pens story? He’ll be trying to remove COSHH next!
So, do you actually believe his highlighter pen story then? 😐
Latest fatality statistics from the HSE for the first three quarters of 2011 / 12.
203 people stiffled by health and safety. That’s a 25% increase since 2009 / 10 looks like it’s only unemployment, inflation, taxes and workplace fatalities going up at the moment.
May be Cameron should perhaps come with a Health Warning –
This man may cause offence to those whose families have been affected by needless industrial accidents.
The blokes reprehensible
Good comment Rod, time for the pandering to cease, I too believe IOSH and NEBOSH need to take stock!
Even if a professional h&s person did contribute to Mr Cameron’s speech, why should that be such a crime? Many people within the industry would agree with certain aspects of it.
Is one not able to give an opinion without the threat of a sanction?
It’s about time the PM got his facts straight and stopped adding to the H&S mythology. Responsible leader in Government? I think not
Richard Jones is quite right, good H & S management does help business grow; emphasis on the word good. Unfortunately IOSH doesn’t promote good H & S, as a member’s only organisation it churns out people with a NEBOSH certificate kidding them they are H & S professionals, when they haven’t even started to learn. What we need is an organisatin led by good practical people who are interested in promoting H & S, and not just themselves. Currently David Cameron is right. H & S is stiffling business.
well said Mr Cameron, i fully support your arguement and look forward to H&S being dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world, i have no time for all these hand wringers, doom sayers tuc quasai politicos and general know it all know nothing posters who are stuck in the dark ages.
keep up the good work David hopefully your use of the nudge theorey will pay dividends though reading through the majority of postings on here i very much doubt it.
If it appears that a “professional” safety officer may have had a contribution in writing the Safety Data Sheet and if that person is a member of IOSH, IOSH’s professional competenace committe should carry out an investigation of this person and why this situation has arsien, as matter of urgency.
It’s clear that the Prime minster’s remarks are foolish and show he has little or no understanding or can’t be bothered finding out. I’m pleased to hear that IOSH think “it’s a shame”. Has anyone from IOSH actually got hold of him rather than a spokesperson and tried to enlighten him? After all IOSH is the voice of health and safety
I’m probably the only one on here who agrees with the PM. I blame some over zealous H&S consultants, the ambulance chasers and greedy people. To Richard Jones I would say it does hold some people back and it certainly is NOT the opposite – it doesn’t encourage them. If you think that, then get back in the real world.