F E AT U R E
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HEALTH AND SAFETY
NEBOSH, The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health, explores what might happen to health and safety regulation after Britain leaves the European Union next year. The majority of UK health and safety regulations introduced over the past 30 years originated from the European Union. So, with Britain now preparing to leave the EU on 29 March 2019, it begs the question: what happens next to all the health and safety laws governing the UK construction industry and how else might Brexit impact on the protection of workers? Perhaps the best place to start is with the UK’s “primary legislation” – the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act of 1974, which places a duty on all employers to ensure “so far as is reasonably practicable” the health, safety and welfare at work of employees and others. This overarching Act, which is goal-setting, rather than prescriptive, was derived wholly from the UK and therefore it seems unlikely that this key piece of Britain’s approach to health and safety will be affected by Brexit. It is also worth noting that the UK’s health and safety regime is largely seen as having set a benchmark for others to follow in Europe. At the same time, much of the “secondary legislation” (ie: legislation other than Acts of Parliament) around health and safety has been derived from EU directives. From a construction industry viewpoint, perhaps the most
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significant of these is the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations or CDM. The most recent enactment of CDM in 2015 largely ensured that the roles and duties of client, designers and contractors are now aligned throughout Europe. This included extending duties to domestic clients (ie: private households). Other significant health and safety regulation within construction, such as the Work at Height Regulations (2005) and The Control of Noise at Work Regulations of the same year, also followed on from EU directives. On the basis of what has been outlined so far, it appears, on the surface at least (and in the short term), that Brexit will have little impact on the health and safety laws of Britain, particularly as the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, or ‘Great Repeal Bill’ as it is sometimes called, intends to incorporate all EU legislation into UK law in one go to ensure a “calm and orderly” exit. Uncertainty However, if there is one word that has been associated with Brexit since the referendum vote of June 2016 it is ‘uncertainty’.
Currently, it appears the Government will attempt to maintain strong free trade ties with the EU, which in practical terms will probably require adherence to the kind of standards and regulations already in place. The plan is that the UK Parliament will follow up on the ‘Great Repeal Bill’ with a programme that will "amend, repeal and improve" individual laws as necessary. Likely targets If health and safety deregulation is to happen post-Brexit, early candidates for culling could be those rules which the UK Government has previously been challenged on by the European Commission. One example is the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, which came into effect because the Commission felt that the relevant directive had not been implemented fully. Notification rules and the need to keep written records in connection with non-licensed asbestos work could, for example, be relaxed. At NEBOSH we consulted with members of the Health and Safety Lawyers Association (HSLA) recently about the likely impact on health and safety regulation arising from Brexit. Around three quarters felt that domestic