What can we expect from the new Labour Government when it comes to health and safety? Emma Evans at Bexley Beaumont takes a look at the short-and long-term possibilities.
The recent election saw Labour acquired a landslide majority with 63% of seats in the House of Commons. The King’s Speech that followed made various statements to suggest what the renewed focus and priorities will be for the newly formed Government. The below shares legal insight and opinion on what we may expect in health and safety for 2024 and beyond.
Product Safety
The Product Safety and Metrology Bill, led by the Department for Business and Trade, was given a specific mention. Among other things, it is set to play a part in product safety reform and ensuring the UK is better equipped to manage modern day safety such as growing fire risks associated with e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries.
Over recent years, appetite for enforcement in product safety has perhaps been to a slightly lesser extent than for health and safety/fire breaches. However, the King’s Speech made clear it wants to enable Government and Regulators to tackle non-compliance, target market surveillance, and increase leadership seen for product safety and metrology issues.
Therefore, it is likely the Government will make Trading Standards, and the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) deliver greater regulatory scrutiny and carry out more targeted enforcement. This is only further supported by the increased role OPSS has now under the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA), in relation to building and construction products.
Counter Terrorism
Labour set to improve safety and security of public venues, with the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill (“Martyn’s Law”). The legislation is set to introduce a new regime and measures to improve safety and security in public venues, following recommendations from the Manchester Arena bombing. The last consultation closed on 18 March 2024, and we should therefore anticipate that final responses will now be considered, and the new law will be implemented shortly.
Mental Health
The King’s Speech stated that “mental health will be given the same focus as physical health”. As such, health and safety and employment law may need to be reconsidered (although existing frameworks and guidance already cover this). There have been remarks to further tackle the ‘always on’ culture and for workers to be given a statutory ‘right to switch off’. This has been expected by health and safety specialists for some time, it means the Government is likely to be increased regulatory scrutiny and enforcement around mismanagement of workplace mental health and stress. The recent comments could only reinforce this, so we may expect more regulatory attention to this area.
Duty of Candour
Recent events (Grenfell, Hillsborough, Manchester Arena, Post Office and Covid Inquiries) have triggered new regulation, and a call for imposition of a specific ‘duty of candour’ to avoid those who are in public office seeking to not disclose or avoid being fully transparent, when things go wrong.
As such, Hillsborough Law was specifically mentioned, and is likely to be brought in to help rebuild trust and respect for public bodies. It will likely impact on the way public inquires and inquests in the future are held. Particularly if there is a requirement that evidence and findings of major inquests are fully taken into account at any subsequent criminal trials.
Priority Sectors
Construction continues to tally as one of the worst sectors for workplace injuries and fatalities, according to HSE statistics
Historically, construction year-on-year has been one of the most accountable sectors for work-related fatalities and accidents, primarily due to its high-risk activities. With the Government wanting to introduce 1.5 million homes in the next five years and proposals to reintroduce mandatory homes targets, it may be unlikely that we see any reduction in work-related accidents in the sector. In fact, we may only predict figures increase, especially with aging workforce and the on-going skills gap.
Climate Challenge
With the Government’s ambitious housing plans and continued momentum around alternative energy, net-zero is likely to remain a priority. Energy efficiency standards for homes will likely come under further scrutiny, and there may be fresh consideration about the use of hydrogen. UK boiler manufacturers were reported as saying previously that they supported new legislation to mandate all domestic boilers being ‘hydrogen ready’ from 2025.
However, Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 (GSMR) and Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmosphere Regulations 2002 (DSEAR), among others, already apply to hydrogen. If the drive for an increased use of alternative energy and hydrogen is reconsidered, we may anticipate further review and introduction of new standards, best practice and guidance to still address new innovations, retraining of staff, as well as requirements around maintenance and storage of fuels and/or equipment.
Standards and Governance
Finally, further steps are still being taken to improve and drive home more consistency in some sectors, like housing. Post Grenfell, social landlords in England are to be held more accountable, and a variety of reforms proposed. It is to be anticipated that the standards and regulation in housing will continue to be reviewed under Labour; for example, they could impose new competency requirements for senior Housing Executives, and introduce Awaab’s Law (certain steps and specific timeframes to respond to damp and mould). Furthermore, the sector may attract further attention in light of the Building Safety Act and the awaited Phase 2 Grenfell Inquiry Report in September, which will comment on how the tower block came to be in a condition that allowed the fire to spread.
The Health and Safety at Work Act
Under Labour, as part of its Plan to Make Work Pay policy, there is also likely to be review of workers status and definitions, although this is unlikely to change any of the key protections already afforded to workers under primary health and safety legislation.
It is fifty years’ since the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) was first introduced, yet 138 work related fatalities still reported in the most recent published HSE statistics. In light of this, there appears to be an appetite for Labour to ensure health and safety can continue to be robustly upheld and undoubtedly still remains a place for HSWA, while considering any new requirements and/or increasing enforcement to better reflect the more modern world and workplaces in which we now operate.
Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.
Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.
The Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 do not apply t hydrogen, see gas definition in GSMR:
“gas”
means any substance in a gaseous state which consists wholly or mainly of
methane;
Thanks for the comment. It is my opinion due to little specific legislation for hydrogen pure, that these are likely to still apply. There is a wider definition under the Gas Act 1986 of ‘Gas’ which does include hydrogen and some trials have blended normal methane gas alongside hydrogen. Question is if to be introduced on a wider scale, will the existing legal framework still be sufficient then, or will hydrogen need its own specific laws. Interesting considerations ahead.
Great summary Emma. The Building Safety Act is transformational in the construction products sector – so demonstrates that if a government wants to act it can. To tackle the Construction sector injury and fatality rates a deep look at culture outside of safety is needed. More workers are lost to suicide in construction that fatal injuries and when you look at insolvency and talk to trades about late payments, early payment discounts, inflation and the complexity of our tax system, UK Plc is not making it easy for them and definitely not to build 1.5 million new homes.