Thanks for sharing achrn.

I do wish that each new Government would look back at what has happened before and perhaps when it comes to occupational H&S legisation, HSE might be a bit more forceful in terms of how it advises the Minister and their supporting civil servants.

This is the result of yet another Government trying to get the knife out to deregulate UK occupational H&S legislation and the previous attempts have largely been damp squibs, partly as the Minister's hands are severely constrained by the wording of Section 1(2) of HSWA.

So, we had e.g. the big review by Professor Lofstedt which (like others) concluded that UK occupational H&S legislation was largely "fit for purpose" and that there was little RED TAPE but plenty of so called BLUE TAPE that duty holders chose to put up.

Lofstedt's report did lead to some consolidation of legislation and removal of other pieces of historic law that nobody knew about anyway.

....and by the end of the Coalition Government it could claim that under its watch 88% of (occupational H&S) "Regulations" had been "removed or improved".

What happened? First the concept of a "Regulation" got to mean "Code of Regulations", though nobody chose to admit this publicly.

So, then some consolidations of (Codes of) "Regulations" to reduce the number of (Codes) of "Regulations".

But if you consolidate some 50 (Codes of) "Regulations" governing underground mining into a SINGLE (megaCode of) "Regulations" the actual impact is reduce the number of Codes by about 49, whilst leaving approximately the same number of ACTUAL Regulations in place.

BUT Government could claim ONE "Regulation" IN, 50 "Regulations" OUT. Brilliant!!

AND, each industry involved in such consolidation would then face having to get to grips to the new reality.

ALL those procedures to be amended to change reference to e.g. the Mines and Quarries ( Meals on Wheels) Regulations 1968 to read the Mines and Quarries (Let's cover everything under the Sun) Regulations 2014.

AND lots of training courses and Conferences to attend, then big meetings to talk about how these legislative changes impact the business. Then tool box talks and all the rest.

So much more BLUE TAPE.

At the time this was all going on I was relieved that I have never had much in the way of dealing with underground mining but exactly the same issues were happening, albeit on a smaller scale, with the sectors I was working with.

Would HM Government prefer its HSE Inspectors to be skewed towards desk jobs repeatedly reviewing the impact of tried and tested requirements such as the thorough examination of lifting equipment - in place since at least 1937, or have more Inspectors out at the sharp end guiding duty holders and taking appropriate enforcement action?

Number of prosecutions on a downward trend for a long time, ditto the number of Notices issued by HSE Inspectors.

...and out in the field is the OSH professional's time better spent considering unneeded HSE Consultation Documents or getting with trying to help their employer and/or clients improve what they do on a daily basis?

Without much opposition, the Government could target the DSE Regs for the bin and replace them with some sensible guidance.

With a lot more opposition, the Government could target the Working Time Regulations partly as they don't sit under the protection of Section 1(2) of HSWA, but trying to tamper with those would probably be very unwise.

HMG do anything substantial to change the REQUIREMENTS of LOLER. They could e.g. amend HSWA to to add some specifics dealing with e.g. various provisions of LOLER (and, may be PUWER) leaving it free to revoke LOLER in entirery but that is not deregulation but adding BLUE TAPE.

...and even if they thought this was a good idea, how come nobody has bothered to repeal Section 1 of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act 1920 and transfer its text to some other legislation?

[Once upon a time I included a breach of said Section 1 in a prosecution report! That law was valid then and still is]

Edited by user 27 October 2025 13:46:34(UTC)  | Reason: Additional text