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Legal experts have slammed the HSE’s proposals to exempt self-employed workers from health and safety laws, saying the biggest myth the regulator should be challenging is that the law is a burden.

In its response to the recent consultation on the subject the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) urged the HSE to reconsider its proposals. Association president Karl Tonks said: “There’s no reason why the protection afforded to employees should not be afforded to self-employed people.

“As the law stands, self-employed people are not expected to take any disproportionate steps to meet with health and safety regulations. So the notion that the law is some sort of burden is a myth.”

IOSH, too, fears such an exemption will cause confusion. Said the Institution’s head of policy and public affairs, Richard Jones: “It’s unnecessary, unhelpful and unwise to pick and choose who should comply with health and safety law and who shouldn’t.

“It gives complete the wrong message, and may encourage the unscrupulous to gamble with people’s safety and health.”

He continued: “Under the proposals, the self-employed will need to assess their own risk-causing potential in order to determine whether or not they are exempt. We are concerned that some self-employed may not assess their risks and will just take it that they are probably exempt.”

Mr Jones quoted a survey carried out by the Forum for Private Business, which suggested the exemption could be used as an excuse not to do health and safety at all, and may even give a competitive edge to the self-employed.

The consultation closed last weekend.