I thought I would share this post, from the HMG Your Freedom website asking the public to suggest laws and regulations that should be scrapped: "There is a requirement in uk health and safety legislation to carry out a risk assessment for ALL activities and to record 'significant findings'.This regulation which is very specific adds little value to health and safety and has become a charter for consultants and 'elf and safety' jokes and incredibly costly to implement while in itself adding little value to improving safety and health. The law which protects people is the general duty of care to employees or members of the public within the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Removal of the requirement to carry out risk assessment and record the findings would remove a large burden from all businesses. This would not lower health and safety standards as other specific regulations will still apply to higher risk activities e.g work at height ,machinery safety,pressure systems etc. Savings on the cost of consultants would be significant. Why the contribution is important As an ex HSE principal inspector my past experience is that the the requirement to carry out risk assessment and record the findings has in itself little effect on improving health and safety standards.The main risks caused by work activities are the subject of other health and safety legislation and specific prescriptive regulations and codes of practice." What hope have we got if an HSE Insepctor does not know/understand the RA requirements of the Management regulations?

I can see some value in this, although I don't think a blanket removal of the requirement to risk assess would necessarily be a good option. However, there are a lot of RA's carried out unecessarily, that are not worth the paper (or electronic system) they're written on. A recent change of cleaning contractor at my place of work led me into a bit of a heated debate with a consultant hired by the cleaning company to carry out their risk assessments. He assessed pretty much everything that the cleaners would do, including cleaning and drying cups and crockery, and the hazards he associated with our workplace made an office environment sound like a battle field. These are the kind of issues that are the burden and what is giving h&s such a bad name. We need to get to a state where everyone; practitioners, politicians, the public, directors etc; see's the value of risk management and applies the principles correctly.

Some thoughts - 1. Wasn't the RA requirement brought in as part of the 6 pack originally to comply with Europe - so wouldn't removing it from our law would render us (HM Gov't) in breach of EU requirements and liable to sanctions ? 2. It makes explicit that which is implicit in many other pieces of legislation - principally the HSW Act s.2 /3 etc. Some other Regulations have specific requirments to undertake RAs, whereas others don't but in any case there is no need to repeat a RA under the Management Regs - it's there as a 'mop up' not an additional burden. 3. HSE itself advocates that it's the actions following on from the RA that are important not the bit of paper itself. Quote from August 2008 Myth of the Month "If a written assessment is needed - keep it fit for purpose, and crucially: act on it. Paperwork without action does no one any good."

I suggest this is only one of many potential "troll" entries we can expect on that Site.