This year has been a dramatic one – and Brexit has taken centre stage. Safety and Health Practitioner looks at the stories across 2017.The year begun with the TUC calling on the prime minister, Theresa May, to make clear to Britain’s bosses that “any watering down of workers’ rights following Brexit is off the table” following the emergence of a letter sent to MPs by Simon Boyd, the head of REIDsteel, which detailed a list of workers’ rights on areas such as working hours, holiday pay and health and safety that he wants abolished once Britain leaves the EU.
On 28 February, the Westminster Legal Policy Forum, part of the Westminster Forum Projects (WFP), came together to look to the future of occupational health and safety enforcement after Brexit.
Here is what happened…
2016 was a turbulent year in the global political arena, with events such as Brexit and the US presidential election fundamentally altering the course of history forever.
Wider ramifications for such events, including the future of trade and industry deals, standards and regulations are still relatively unknown…
Tim Turney looked at the landscape in March.
(TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady)
The TUC again warned trade unionists and working people that health and safety protections are at risk from the government’s Brexit plans.
“The next government needs a watertight plan”, says TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady
In a new briefing, Protecting Health and Safety after Brexit, the TUC said that although the government has set out its intention in a white paper to transfer all existing health and safety protections from EU law to UK law, there are no guarantees for what happens afterwards.
Four experts gathered at this year’s Safety & Health Expo in June to talk about their opinions on Brexit in OSH and FM.
Looking at what they believe will happen in the long and short term, which regulations they would scrap if they were in charge, and giving their thoughts on the next steps, Paul Almond, Lyn Dario, Jonathan Hughes, and Joanna Lloyd-Davies FBIFM, presented a fantastic debate into the complex world of Brexit.
With ‘Brussels bureaucracy’ often held up as a reason for voting for Brexit, what will the impact of the UK’s exit from the EU be on health and safety in the UK? Simon Olliff assesses.
For many UK citizens, the hope of removing red tape was a central reason for voting Brexit. Dissatisfaction with EU principles is not uncommon, with David Cameron’s government previously calling the Working Time Directive “unnecessary EU regulation”[3]. With Brexit just around the corner, could we start seeing reduced health and safety legislation in the UK?
