Brexit would in theory leave the government in a position where it could rewrite H&S law as it saw fit without having to think about European Directives. So it could rewrite most of our regulations and make life easier for business (“cutting red tape”) which is one of the justifications for leaving the EU but this will depend on, what sort of government we get and what sort of deal we might negotiate with the EU post Brexit. The EU might insist that we apply the directives if we wish to continue to trade with the bloc. The main issue with Brexit is that it will create climate of uncertainty as we decide what we want in that brave new world.

No brave new world. Just another world, pretty much the same as the old. If we wish to trade on a tariff-free basis, as now, we will have to have the same arrangements as those still in the EEA, which we won't be when we depart the EU: Those include the directives we have now. There is no guarantee that we can continue to trade as we do now, some of the other 27 states remaining may not vote to allow us to. And if we trash various working regulations, and get an "unfair" trading advantage, we will almost certainly won't be doing the same amount of trade. Fun and games in the North sea will be the next, as the EU fishing policies depart, and the free-for-all starts with the depleted navy chasing Russian fishers, who largely ignore everyone anyway, and EU boats who will carry-on as normal. It won't even be "Britain", as Scotland may well chose to stay in the EU and depart. Then there will be the farmers, bleating about the loss of farming subsidies and who will pay for land in fallow... I'm looking forward to a "get out" vote, followed by the realisation that even when we're out, we're still in. Hilarious. Sheep being led to the slaughter by multi-billionaire-foreign-resident-tax-avoiding-sociopathic media owners and corrupt politicians (all of them) who have so many axes to grind that the sparks are blinding everyone.....