Memorandum by the Confederation of British
Industry (HSE 17)
1. The Confederation of British Industry
(CBI)—with a direct membership employing over four million
and a trade association membership representing over six million
of the workforce—is the premier organisation speaking for
business in the UK. The CBI welcomes the opportunity to submit
evidence to the Environment Sub-committee on the Health and Safety
Executive.
2. The CBI is actively involved in the work
of the Health and Safety Commission and Executive, providing briefing
to the employer Commissioners, nominations for the advisory committees,
and respond to consultations.
STRUCTURE
3. The CBI believes that the existence of
an independent and well funded HSE is the most effective way of
regulating health and safety to a high standard and has played
a key role in the success achieved thus far. The separation between
the HSE and the DETR is important because it ensures that the
HSE is, and is perceived to be, independent of direct government
influence, it strengthens the tripartite partnership of the HSC/E,
and provides stability and consistency in the development of health
and safety legislation. In addition, the existence of an independent
body raises the profile of health and safety and "carries
the flag" for health and safety.
4. However, the CBI believes that there
is scope for greater co-ordination between HSE and other government
departments, particularly where there are overlapping responsibilities.
The CBI believes that the HSE approach to risk based regulation
could usefully be applied to other regulatory regimes and welcomes
the HSE's participation in the interdepartmental group on risk
assessment which is working towards a common interpretation of
risk across government. The CBI also welcomes the moves towards
adoption of risk based approaches to fire safety and environmental
regulation which assists in creating consistent approach with
health and safety. Health and safety regulations, environment
regulations and others are ultimately applied by business to one
process and therefore require one solution. This needs to be recognised
by regulators if they are to avoid conflicting and duplicating
requirements.
5. Furthermore, improved communication and
consistency across regulatory areas would enable government to
move towards a "first stop shop approach" to regulation
which would ease the burden of regulation on business, particularly
on small firms. Business is not able to look at health and safety
in isolation, rather it manages health and safety within the wider
business management process, together with other facets of management
eg environment. Business needs to have regulatory contacts who
can provide specialist advice but they also need to have a simple
way of accessing government. The CBI therefore favours a "first
stop shop" approach which brings together the expertise of
a wide range of officials, through a single contact point.
6. The CBI also believes that the separation
between policy and enforcement, represented by the HSC and HSE,
combined with the close links between the two organisations has
resulted in effective and independent policy. The independence,
effectiveness and integrity of the HSE is essential for business
to demonstrate publicly it credibility in the health and safety
area. The separation of the HSC and HSE ensures this integrity
and independence while enabling business to participate in a tripartite
system which ensures that regulations are reasonable and practical.
Furthermore, the close links between the HSC and HSE informs the
debate by providing practical advice and experience to policy
makers, identifying key hazards and operational issues. This structure
has worked effectively for 25 years, and has adapted and continues
to be able to adapt to changing social and economic conditions.
POLICY
7. The CBI believes that the legal requirement
to consult on health and safety has been the trigger for a culture
of consultation within the HSE which has benefited all stakeholders.
This has had the effect of including a wide range of opinions
such as employees, employers, scientists, academics etc into the
policy formulation and development process. This has also assisted
business compliance by giving business early warning of proposals
which allows them to spread the costs of compliance. Furthermore
the process of consultation enables government to make the argument
for new regulation which can influence behaviour before regulations
are introduced.
8. The CBI believes that the current legislative
structure provides comprehensive protection for employees, working
in a variety of circumstances. Changing patterns of employment
has thrown up some challenges such as contractorisation and the
growth of small firms but the CBI believes that the current regulatory
system can be applied to these new circumstances by supplementary
guidance and by directing the HSE's promotional activities to
these areas.
9. In the DETR discussion document "Revitalising
Health and Safety" it is noted that declines in accident
and incident rates have plateau-ed in recent years. The CBI believes
that in the light of the introduction of the framework directive
and supplementary directives and the development over the last
ten years of an extensive body of health and safety regulation,
HSE should now shift its focus from policy to greater promotion
and enforcement activities in order to improve standards. The
CBI welcomes the opportunity to work with the HSE on its occupational
health agenda but it is essential that any regulatory proposals
which are brought forward are based on sound science rather than
speculation or unfounded public concerns. It is also important
that HSE restricts its activities to those relating to workplace
health and safety, rather than being diverted into lifestyle issues
or public education. The CBI agrees that HSE should support government
initiatives to raise risk awareness in children but the CBI would
not wish the HSE's limited resources to be diluted by activities
which are not part of its core responsibilities.
OPEN GOVERNMENT
10. The CBI has welcomed the application
of the principles of open government to the HSE in the areas of
enforcement and policy making. The CBI believes that the advisory
committee systems of the HSC/E is an essential element of the
HSC/E's success in policy formulation and promotion of standards.
The CBI supports increased openness on these committees eg inclusion
of public interest representatives, open meetings, making results
of the meetings available as long as it does not infringe on the
openness and quality of the discussion at the meeting. The CBI
believes that the subject and nature of the advisory committees
mean that each one should determine the way in which they increase
openness. For example, the CBI agrees that on some committees
where there is a compelling public interest, it is appropriate
to have a public interest representative but this person should
be capable of making useful contributions to the debate and considering
the issues objectively and without their own agenda. In addition,
the CBI does not think it would be appropriate in all cases to
have open meetings, if they would inhibit full and frank discussion.
In such cases, regular public meetings might be more appropriate
where representatives could address questions and concerns of
the public. The CBI also supports the current system of included
annotated agendas on the website as this provides information
without inhibiting discussion at meetings or the completion of
full and accurate minutes.
ENFORCEMENT
11. The function of the HSE is principally
to monitor compliance with the law, primarily offering advice
and assistance to businesses and taking enforcement action when
necessary in a way which is proportionate, objective and consistent.
The CBI believes that the effective working relationship between
HSE and business at all levels from policy to enforcement is critical
to the successful management of the UK's health and safety standards
and should be guarded. The Government recently introduced charges
for certain functions undertaken by the HSE, namely enforcement
of the COMAH regulations and on rail, offshore and gas transportation
sites. The CBI has expressed on several occasions its concern
regarding the effect that the introduction of charges will have
on the relationship between operators and inspectors in these
high hazard industries. In particular we are concerned that the
introduction of charges for the provision of certain advice will
dissuade businesses from asking advice and therefore diminish
standards. We are also concerned that the payments to HSE will
reduce the budget available to businesses, particularly small
businesses to make real health and safety improvements. Finally,
the CBI is concerned that the submission of invoices, on a full
cost recovery basis, will result in conflicts about over-enforcement
and inaccurate billing which will lead to relationships between
operators and inspectors deteriorating and have a detrimental
effect on the quality of enforcement. The CBI has been working
closely with HSE officials to try and mitigate the negative effects
of the introduction of charges through industry/government review
groups and will be monitoring the effects closely over the next
few years.
September 1999
| 
